A Thousand Words
by yuugiri
Summary: If the heart knew of it's demise, will it still continue...? The story of Lenne and Shuyin before the Machina war. R and R please! please! please! Please!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was ironic to think that in order to achieve peace, there should be war. But this was the means to justify an end to everything finally.

This is what should be done.

Praetor Lua frowned at the retreating figures of his comrades down the dark deserted hallway of Bevelle Underground. Stress over their plans were making the whole of Bevelle anxious, but things just have to go this way.

Again, Lua glanced down the hallway, this time not at the people, but at the machine that stood at the very end of the hall. Dark and menacing. _Vegnagun._

This was the war that was going to end all wars. How long before it, Lua wondered. He smirked solemnly, thinking of the reaction of the whole of Spira when that time finally came.

Zanarkand would tremble...


	2. the songstress

This is My first fanfic story. Please be nice and bear with me.

Oh, and since everyone is doing this I guess I might as well too. I don't own FFX2.

Shuyin walked down the empty streets of Zanarkand, winding down the narrow alleys between towering buildings that could not help but make one feel small and insignificant.

That was exactly how he felt at that moment; insignificant. How he longed to find more than what life could offer, instead of being Shuyin, small and insignificant.

Eighteen years in the making of a loser. That was what his life was. He wasted his years away playing Blitzball, a game that mattered little to anyone, and most especially to him. He just happened to be really good at it, but then that was what made him useless. He was a coward. The only things he ever did were the things he was good at, and that was the end of that.

It was after midnight, and he was out going around in circles. He had just scored the winning goal in the game between the Zanarkand Abes and the Guado Glories, along with the other twelve out of fifteen goals they had, but it mattered little to him. He could score fifteen before halftime. It was nothing special.

His team mates were out celebrating, and he had snuck off to be alone, as usual.

As he turned a corner that led tot eh bay, he noticed someone standing over the edge of the highway, a woman with long dark hair falling to her waist. She appeared to be... crying.

Shuyin stopped dead in his tracks and was about to leave the girl in her silent demise when she saw him and waved.

Shuyin was puzzled. As forgetful as he was, he knew for certain he had never met this girl before. But she was waving at him now... He couldn't possibly leave especially when she knew who he was and he obviously didn't remember her.

Awkwardly, he went to her. "Uh, hi."

The girl quickly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and laughed softly. "Hello."

Then they were silent. Shuyin waited for the girl to at least initiate a conversation, to at least tell him where she knew him, but she didn't. The silence went on and was starting to get annoying so he said the only thing that came into mind.

"Do we know each other?"

With this, the girl laughed again. "No."

Now he was lost. "We don't?"

She shook her head. "No."

Silence.

Shuyin shrugged. "Oh."

The girl nodded, then looked up into the starless sky. This was how it was in Zanarkand. The buildings were so tall and too bright for the stars to be visible. The only place one can go stargazing was in the beach. That was a three hours away on foot.

"Did you know that I've never seen a single star in my life?" asked the girl.

Shuyin frowned. "Huh?"

The girl laughed more. She seemed to like laughing a lot. She turned to him. "My name is Lenne. What's yours?"

"My name?"

She looked at him, her turn no to be puzzled. "You don't have one?"

"Shuyin," he said, taken aback. _Was this girl for real? _"My name is Shuyin."

"Shuyin? What an odd name."

Shuyin didn't like that. "Yeah, well, your name isn't any prettier than mine."

She on the other hand loved that. "Yeah, I know what you mean. What kind of parents would name their daughter Lenne? It's a stupid name." She seemed to have forgotten the reason why she was crying.

Shuyin blinked at her, then looked up into the clouds. "So, uh, you haven't seen stars before?"

"Never."

"Ever?"

"Never ever." Lenne shifted her stare out into the expanse of the city. Lights dotted the horizon, all of which reflected in her deep eyes.

Shuyin shrugged. "Well, you won't be seeing anything from here, Lenne."

She shook her head sadly. "Too bad."

"Yeah, well."

More silence.

"Listen," Lenne said, turning to him suddenly. "Thanks for your help."

Shuyin avoided her gaze. "I didn't do nothing," he muttered.

She looked at him thoughtfully. "Perhaps, huh?" She giggled. "Perhaps. What are you doing here? And in the middle of the night at that."

Shuyin, again, shrugged. "Nothing."

"Oh." Lenne bit her lip and frowned. Shuyin had never seen anyone do that and still looked happy. Her face, it was like she was the embodiment of cheerfulness. She looked over at him, thinking. "You really don't know me?"

This time, he got worried. "Am I... am I supposed to know you?"

This made her laugh again. "I suppose not."

The next thing she did completely threw him off guard. She gave him a ticket. She had produced it from her incredibly short skirt.

Shuyin looked away, embarrassed and instead read the ticket in his hand and frowned. "I don't have any money. I can't take this. It's a five thousand gil ticket."

Lenne rolled her eyes, tugging on her colorfully beaded earrings. "Shuyin, I'm giving it to you. I want you to come to a concert on the night after tomorrow. It's a special concert."

Shuyin eyed her. She merely smiled. "I don't like music much."

Lenne shrugged, probably mocking him because he liked to shrug a lot. "It doesn't matter. So long as I know I gave you a ticket, now it's up to you whether or not you'd go. I hope you don't go scalping it off."

Shuyin narrowed his eyes at him. "I won't owe you, would I?"

"Hm?" was all she muttered before finally walking away.

"Hey," Shuyin called, holding out the ticket. "Hey!"

Lenne raised her hand and waved as she casually walked down the highway as she would probably have done if she were in a park. "See you then, Shuyin."

"Hey! Come on!" Shuyin groaned inwardly. Taking another look at the ticket, he sighed. It read about this being the last concert of the Songstress.

Why in Spira would she give me an expensively lousy ticket?

Stuffing the small gift from the mysterious Lenne into his pocket, he began to walk away into the opposite direction. It was only then did he realize he still didn't know where to go.


	3. Prayers

**Hi, thanks for the review. this is the second chapter. I know the story's moving a little too slow, but I'm kind of just building up drama... hehehe! Hope you'd like it.**

**Oh, and I don't own FFX2, okay?**

Lenne was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair gently, her thoughts swimming. It has been over a month now that she had made her decision; that she will follow a different path now.

Not that she didn't want to sing or perform anymore. She loved the stage. It gave her a different sense of fulfillment when she lights up the stage, simply because she knew she makes people happy. And now her own happiness was torn between two equally righteous goals and now, she didn't know which path to choose.

Suddenly, Choras burst into her room. She was a buxom woman, tall as she was wide. Lenne felt her heart soften. She loved her nanny, who had raised her since she was very young. And now she felt guilty for making her worry.

"Where in Yevon's name have you been, child? I ws almost on top of everyone looking for you," said Choras, rushing to her and scooping her up into her huge arms. Lenne felt her face get squashed into the woman's breasts.

"Choras, I'm all right! Let me go! I can't breath!" Lenne screamed, struggling to free herself from the iron grip.

Choras held her out at arms length, examining her face critically. "Why didn't you show up for your concert? The people were ballistic. _I_ was ballistic!"

Lenne smiled sheepishly, scratching her head. "I know. I'm sorry, Choras. I didn't know what came over me. I just had to get away tonight so I went out for a walk."

"A WALK?! Lenne, you were gone for six hours!"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'll have to reschedule the concert on the night after tomorrow. My fans will hate me if I don't show up this time." Lenne pulled free from her nanny's grasp and unceremoniously dropped to her bed. She looked out into the night sky from the window on her ceiling.

_Well, you won't be seeing anything from here, Lenne._

Lenne let out a small sigh. "Choras, did you know that this was supposed to be my last performance?"

Choras looked at her for about a minute, then sat down beside her. The bed groaned under her weight. She put a reassuring hand on Lenne's back. "I knew, dear. I knew. The only thing I'm worried about is if you're ready."

Lenne turned to face her. For a big lady, she had the softest face. "Tonight was supposed to be the end of my career as a Songstress. And to tell you honestly, I'm not sorry. I mean, being a Summoner is my choice, and it's a noble as any cause could be."

"Then why didn't you show up?"

Lenne frowned, shaking her head. "Because although it's easy for me to let go, it's kind of hard for me to move on."

They fell into an awkward silence.

Lenne continued to brush her hair. "I'll be leaving soon. Not even you can come with me. I'm going alone."

Choras suddenly catapulted from her place on the bed, bouncing a bit as she put her hands on her hips. "I'll be your Guardian, Lenne."

Lenne stared at her in disbelief, eyes widening. A guardian was supposed to accompany a Summoner throughout her pilgrimage. It was a dangerous and holy journey all over Spira to acquire Aeons found in temples scattered in different places of the world. She could not imagine her nanny lumbering around, battling fiends and the like.

She burst out laughing. "Oh, Choras! You can't be a Guardian. It's too dangerous for you." She gave the big lady a hug when she saw the offended look on her face. "I love you too much and I don't want to risk your life fro me. I want to become a Summoner because I want to protect people. And if you were to be put in danger, then my cause is useless."

Lenne felt her return the embrace. "But Lenne, where will you eat? How will you take a bath? _Who'll_ wash you back?" She gasped in horror. "You know you can't reach your back."

Lenne laughed even more. "A Summoner can overlook such basic inconveniences, you know."

She looked up at the older woman. "I've been training for eleven years to become what I am now. And I've made up my mind a month ago that I'm going on this pilgrimage." She smiled sadly. "I really don't have any friends, just fans, so I really don't know if anyone would be willing to risk their life for me and be my Guardian. But I'll stick to my decision."

"But - "

"But I'll be back," she said, determined. "And when I do, I'll be a Summoner by then."

"But - "

"No buts, Choras. You understand me, don't you? No, don't cry!" Lenne gently wiped the fat tear that slid down the woman's cheek.

Choras looked down ar Lenne oddly. She seemed pretty depressed. "If only your parents were here, they would be so proud."

Lenne smiled her small smile, though she barely felt like smiling at all.

_This is the right thing. My parents will be proud. I will make a lot of people happy._

_Oh, Yevon. I hope so..._


	4. The Price For Fame

**This is my third chapter now. I really don't know if people are reading this, but I hope you do. RandR please ** And once again, I don't own FFX2.   
Chapter Three: The Price of Fame 

Shuyin could not explain the feeling overcoming him the very moment he woke up the next day. At first he thought he was just hungry, or perhaps he needed to use the bathroom, but after trying to eat the only food he had in his dingy little apartment, and after trying to sit down on the toilet to do his business, he knew he had something else in mind. He just couldn't put his finger into it.

Coming out of the bathroom, he dropped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. This was his extra curricular activity, besides Blitzball and probably moping around. Staring at the ceiling filled up a lot of his stagnant time.

After a moment's thought, he got up, got dressed and left his apartment. When he was walking down the now crowded streets of the city, it was only then did he realize his mistake; he forgot his hood. Now, in broad daylight, his blond hair and blue eyes and his oh so famous face as the great star player of the Zanarkand Abes was there for the whole female population to see.

It took only one girl to arouse the crowd. She took one look at him, did a double-take, then squealed like crazy. "SHUYIN!"

Shuyin looked around in worry, seeing every single girl within a hundred meters turn to him and scream his name. It all happened in slow motion. First, they were standing there, ogling him, the next they were running to him, ready to pounce.

It took him only a moment to get his reflexes working, hightailing so fast and barely missing a girl who tried to grab his shoulder. The reaction didn't seem to have dampened their vigor. Instead, they ran after him like a wild pack of chocobos.

In all honesty, he was scared silly. Now he knew why he never left in the day. It was just too dangerous. He continued to run, dodging objects and people alike who seemed to be just as frightened as he was to see a mob of adrenaline-shot women. He ran for a full ten minutes, until finally it was the end of the road for him. He found himself in a narrow alley between two buildings with a fence of wielded wire separating him from his only means of escape.

He turned to face the mob, slowly backing away to the fence, until he presses against it.

The girls were delighted to see he had nowhere else to go. They laughed in a way that sounded really menacing to Shuyin.

"Oh, don't go, Shuyin," said a blond girl in a tight miniskirt and what looked like six inch heels. Momentarily distracted, he wondered how in Spira she managed to run that fast that far and was able to be the first in line to get a piece of him. "Uh, I – uh – didn't go to the celebration."

His last words were drowned by more screaming. "Waaaaaah! He talked! He never talks and now he did!!!"

It was then did he realize that these girls were whacked. He tried to grab on to the fence, maybe climb over it. There was no way they could follow him over it with those high shoes. But the moment they saw him trying to escape, they let out their battle cry and charged.

Shuyin felt a girl grab his shirt and he ended up falling on his behind. They went in for the kill. Two girls threw themselves on his lap, completely disabling his legs. Another one attached herself to his neck, arms like crowbars. The others, who apparently were not happy for not getting the first dibs, settled with piling on top of him. What was worse was that all of them were screaming shrilly.

He had never been so overpowered in his life. He had experienced being tackled by five Blitzball players once. This was nothing like it at all. _This is worse._ The girl hugging hi neck, who he soon discovered as the same girl in the miniskirt and heels, turned his face towards hers. Yevon, she was ugly. "Gimme a kiss, Shuyin!" she yelled and bent down without waiting for a reply.

Shuyin tried to back away, but the pile of girls were impossible to shake off. He watched in horror as those lips hovered oh so close to his, puckering, then suddenly, the girl yawned.

_Huh?_

He felt the girl fall limply to his side. Alarmed, he looked around and saw all the girls one by one drop to the ground, obviously sound asleep.

The sudden silence was deafening, filled up by soft snoring of more that three dozen girls.

And only one girl was left standing. On the other side of the fence stood a girl with her long dark hair. She appeared to be doing a little jig. Shuyin stared in disbelief. Swallowing hard and panting, he called to her. "Lenne."

Lenne did a little twirl to end her dance and laughed her laugh Shuyin could remember from the last night's encounter. "Hi."

Shuyin gingerly pushed bodies from on top of him, not caring if they fell flat on their faces. He stood up and brushed hi bottom. When he looked up, Lenne was holding on to the fence with both hands, a small smile playing on her lips.

"What did you do?" Shuyin asked her, slowly making his way to her.

Lenne snickered. "A performer never tells her secrets. Are you okay?"

Shuyin rubbed his neck. He felt its muscles strain from trying to avoid the kiss. "I'm all right. Thank you." He stared down at her. She was about two hands shorter than he was, and now with the light, he discovered she has beautiful. A pale face with pink cheeks, grey eyes so deep one can drown in them, and hair so flowing it could easily be mistaken for silk.

"You're welcome. You're pretty popular, aren't you?"

Shuyin was embarrassed. "Not really."

At that, one girl groaned and murmured, "Shuyin, marry me please?"

Lenne burst out laughing. He must be wearing an annoyed expression because she was looking at hi with delight. "Oh, my. They really want you that badly."

"I wish you had gotten here earlier. They were a pain."

Lenne nodded soberly. "We should get out of here before they wake up." Then, with a flip of her wrist, she pushed open the door of the fence.

Shuyin's jaw dropped. "How did you...?"

Lenne's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "What? Oh, you mean you didn't know? The fence was open all along."

"I didn't even know it had a door," Shuyin grumbled.

Lenne brushed it aside. "Oh, details. It doesn't matter." She held out her hand. "Let's go."

Shuyin blinked. "Huh?"

One of the girls groaned and shifted on the ground. Worry entered Lenne's voice. "They're not gonna sleep forever, Shuyin. Now let's go."

Shuyin looked from the sleeping girls Lenne. "But - "

Before he could continue his protest, a sea of men erupted from the alley behind Lenne, equally as noisy and probably just as eager as his pursuers.

Lenne gasped as she saw the mob of men in all shapes and sizes thundering towards them. "Oh, no..." she whispered hoarsely.

Shuyin could not believe that this was happening. He had a feeling this was going to be a long, long day. "Look out!" Instinctively, he grabbed Lenne by the waist and sprang into action, carrying her over his shoulder in a firemen's hold.

This angered the mob. They were obviously after Lenne.

"Shuyin! Faster!" Lenne shouted over to him, giggling.

_She's actually enjoying this!_

As he burst from behind the alley, he made a sharp left, causing Lenne's long hair whip him on the face. At that moment, his senses were filled by her presence. Her flat stomach was resting on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her bare legs, and her arms around his neck. She smelled vaguely of wildflowers. He had never been this close to a girl before.

He felt Lenne pat him on the back. "You can do it, Shuyin. Just keep running. We're losing them."

"Easy for you to say!" he yelled over to her.

"Just keep running. I know a way to lose them."

Shuyin frowned. "Why are they chasing you anyway? Did you steal something?"

Lenne laughed. "No!"

"Then why?"

Lenne pulled at his hair. "You really don't know me?"

"What?"

She laughed more. "Well, I'm not the only one who isn't telling everything. You were being pursued yourself. Just keep moving. We're almost there."

Shuyin sighed but ran faster anyway.


	5. be my guardian

**Thanks again for the reviews. I wasn't so sure you'd like it, but now that I know someone thinks it's something, I think I'll continue with it. ï **

**In the next chapters, I hope you bear with me because I'll be mentioning some characters that are purely out of my imagination. They will have no connection whatsoever to FFX or FFX2 because Lenne and Shuyin's era existed 1000 years before FFX or FFX2 happened. Some of the ideas here may not be consistent with the games, since in that era, I suppose, had different objectives, whereas the games centered on Sin. If you have any comments, be it good or bad, I'm sure all will be greatly appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFX2. Though I wish I did...**

Lenne gazed down at the blond, blue-eyed man who was sitting on the pavement, panting. He looked like he was having a hard time breathing. Then again, she couldn't blame him; he had run half a mile from the center of the city to the outskirts with her on his shoulder. They had eventually lost the mob chasing them halfway, but just to make sure, she told him to go straight to Zanarkand Temple at the edge of the city. No one went there unless completely necessary. He was skeptical, but followed anyway. Lenne smiled at the thought. She had met him only twice, but she has somehow gotten used to his attitude. At first, he would ask a ton of questions, make up some lame excuse, but give in anyway.

"What... what... was that... all about?" Shuyin panted, holding his side. It must be hurting terribly. Had he not been so fit, he wouldn't have made it.

Lenne kneeled by him, peering up into his face. He had his eyes closed.His blond, tousled hair was a mess. "You run really fast. They never came close."

Shuyin opened his eyes and shot her a weary look. "Don't change the subject. Who were those guys?"

Lenne blinked at him, stared but didn't say anything. His already flushed face darkened into a couple more shades, then looked away. She giggled. "Don't ask me questions I can't answer right now. It's really a complicated thing." She stood up and looked around.

Unlike the inner city, the area surrounding the Temple was lush and green, not to mention quiet. Except for the occasional squawk of a bird Lenne didn't know the name of, everything appeared frozen and unmoving. "I was careless and forgot my hood, so I guess it was my fault that they were chasing me. This is where I was headed before I saw you being attacked." She couldn't help but laugh at the memory of Shuyin being mauled by scary-looking women. She leaned down on him and smiled. "You saved me, I saved you. Now we're even."

Shuyin looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. She ignored his look and straightened. "I guess I'll be seeing you at the concert tomorrow night, then?"

"Why?"

Lenne eyed him in frustration. "I gave you a ticket, front row center. Many people would kill to have that ticket. So you'd better be there. I'm going now. Thanks for the ride." With that, she strolled towards the temple.

"Where are you going?"

"To the Chamber of the Fayth. This doesn't concern you anymore, Shuyin. Thanks for your help."

She continued to walk away, and was surprised when she found Shuyin suddenly in front of her, blocking her path. "Hold on. You can't go in there. Only Summoners are supposed to enter there."

Lenne was taken aback. For a moment, she was silent.

_I'm going to be a Summoner..._

She had been planning this since yesterday, and all the while dreading it. Her new life will begin today, and tomorrow, her old life will end. She felt her face fall slowly. Shuyin must have noticed. He was looking at her worriedly.

"Did I say something bad?"

Lenne quickly shook her head. "No. You're right, Shuyin. Only Summoners are allowed inside the Chamber of the Fayth." She tilted her head up at him. "That's why I'm going."

Shuyin backed away from her as if burned. "You're a _Summoner_...?"

Lenne shook her head. "That's why I'm here. To find out, if I will pass."

"You're an apprentice, then."

"Yes."

They fell silent. They had a lot of those, moments of silence.

Shuyin paused, then asked, "Where are your Guardians?"

Lenne felt her stomach churn violently. This was hard to explain, at least for someone who doesn't know what was going on. "I don't have any." She waited for Shuyin to laugh at her, or maybe give her a bewildered look and tell her she was lying, but he didn't. He just looked at her with those solemn blue eyes and said, "Oh."

_What is this feeling? _She didn't like it, how Shuyin was looking at her. She knew he was feeling sorry for her.

She opened her mouth to say goodbye to Shuyin and tell him to get lost, when a peculiar sound came from the bushes in front of them. Shuyin suddenly jerked his head to the direction of the noise. Lenne watched him from the corner of her eye. He looked like a wolf waiting to pounce. She gasped as the bushes again rustled noisily. Judging from the movement, Lenne decided it was a fairly small animal. At least she _assumed _it was an animal.

Lenne's eyes widened as she saw Shuyin pull out a broadsword from his belt. It was the only time did Lenne notice he was carrying one. She was even more surprised when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him. "Stay behind me. Don't move. Avoid unnecessary noises," he whispered, holding the sword in front of him. He looked like he knew how to use it.

Lenne swallowed nervously. "What is it?"

"A fiend." He jerked his head to the left. "It's not alone. There are three, no, make that four to our left. A couple more are waiting at our right."

"No!" Lenne hissed in disbelief. "Can you handle them?"

Before Shuyin could reply, the fiend burst from the bushes simultaneously. Lenne almost screamed, but when she saw the monster, she laughed instead. "What? They look so cute!"

The monsters were about two feet tall with green skin and yellow eyes. Each was wearing what looked like a muddy brown vest and was carrying an oil lamp. Lenne kneeled down and giggled. "Come here, little guys!"

With a loud yell, Shuyin grabbed her painfully by the shoulder and pulled her towards him. She slammed on his chest. He hugged her to him tightly, still managing to keep the sword erect. "Are you _crazy_?!" he demanded, worriedly looking at her straight in the eye. This was the first time since they met did he meet her gaze head on.

"What's wrong?" Lenne asked, her pride hurting as much as her shoulder.

Shuyin gritted his teeth. He looked worried as his gaze left her and returned to the group of fiends who looked like they were looking around with their beady eyes. They inched closer, and when they did, Shuyin stiffened. "Those are Tonberry, Lenne. They move slow, and they could easily be outrun. But if they reach you, _if by any chance they reach you_, They can kill you with one blow."

Lenne felt all the blood from her face drain out. "You mean...?"

Shuyin nodded, not waiting for a response. "This means we're in a fix." He watched as the Tonberry took another step. This time Lenne knew they had sensed them. Shuyin looked over his shoulder, holding Lenne closer to his side. "The Temple is about a hundred feet away." He glanced for about a second at the fiends. One was directly in front of them, about ten meters away, four were to their left, two at their right. All of them were slowly but surely narrowing the gap. "Lenne, run. Run to the Temple _now_. I'll follow soon after."

Lenne grabbed his shirt collar. "What? Why can't we just run together? I mean, they won't be able to catch up to us even if we walked."

"Because even if we did get to the Temple, then what? The last time I checked, there weren't any gates at the Temple. If we get there, they'd just follow us and trap us in. Go on ahead and check if there would be anything for us to block the entrance."

"And if there aren't any?"

Shuyin fell silent, then said, "If there aren't any, come back to me. If there is some way to secure the entrance, call to me. I'll come running."

Lenne gulped. She discovered she was shaking. She looked at the Tonberry, who were now edging forward another step.

"What are you waiting for? _Run NOW!_"

Lenne ran, looking over her shoulder to see what Shuyin was doing. He was just standing there, slowly edging towards one of the nearest fiend. _Oh, Yevon, let there be a way to block the entrance..._

As she looked back again, almost stumbling as she ran faster, the Temple looming closer, she saw Shuyin jump up on the balls of his feet, sprang up and slashed at the nearest Tonberry. Lenne gasped as it was thrown back a couple of feet, but got up and resumed its leisurely walk of doom. There was no way Shuyin could hold those back.

She nearly tripped when she reached the Temple entrance. Frantically, she scanned the area for something – anything - to slam onto the entrance when Shuyin got there. Her eyes fell onto the statue of High Summoner Yunalesca, her lithe form standing right beside the Temple entrance. It was about twelve feet tall, standing on a platform. This will have to do.

Filling her lungs to bursting, she screamed out his name. "Shuyin! Come on!" She scuttled to the foot of the statue and made a futile attempt to push it.

Shuyin came speeding through seconds later, followed by a trail of dust. He wasted no time in going next to her, and gently pushing her aside. Lenne sidestepped and looked out at the Temple entrance and gasped as she saw the Tonberry shuffle along towards them. She was glad Shuyin had thought about checking first or they could have been sitting ducks had there been nothing to block the entrance.

"Get out of the way!" She heard Shuyin's strained voice call out to her. Lenne backed away into the Temple lobby and stared as Shuyin gave one final shove, and Lady Yunalesca came toppling over, her huge almost-naked figure completely blocking the entrance to the Temple. Had it not been for the torches blazing within the lobby, they would have been engulfed in darkness.

Lenne closed her eyes shut and raised her arms to her face as debris and dust exploded everywhere. She was expecting to be showered with rock, but to her surprise, none came. She opened her eyes and looked up. Shuyin was standing in front of her, his back to her, his arms raised to his face.

After the last of the crumbling stone had settled, Shuyin turned to her. "Are you all right?"

Lenne just stared at him, eyes wide and mouth gagging. She couldn't say anything. She tried, but nothing came out.

Shuyin grabbed her by the shoulders worriedly, shaking her a bit. His eyes darted on her face "Hey. Hey! What's wrong? Are you hurt? _Lenne!_"

Lenne snapped back into consciousness and said the first thing that popped into her mind.

"Please... Be my guardian."

**So... what do you think? Should I continue? I do hope you like it... ï**


	6. Just For a While

**Awww guys! Thanks for the reviews! I'm really inspired now. Well, I hope you like this chapter. By the way, I'm planning on updating this story everyday, so expect a new chapter everyday, okay. I'll be counting on your advice and suggestions if you don't like anything you read here. So please give me your reactions in the chapters you'd read. I aim to please, so I have to know. =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FFX2. Drat it....**

Shuyin stared at Lenne for the longest possible time. She stared back with a deadpanned expression on her face. The light from the torches made her angelic face even more innocent. He hated it. How could such a thing of beauty turn his life around in a matter of two days?

"What did you just say?" he asked, letting go of Lenne's shoulders, his arms dropping limply to his sides.

Lenne retained her dumb expression. "I want you... I need you to be my Guardian."

At that, Shuyin felt his insides quiver. He shook his head. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no, _no_. Oh, no you don't."

Grey eyes started to beseech him, wordlessly planting guilt within his usually cold heart. "Please."

Shuyin raised his hand as if to lay emphasis on what he was going to say, only to discover he couldn't think of anything to say to the owner of those beautiful eyes. He sighed in frustration. "Lenne, you hardly know me. A Guardian is supposed to be there for you. Someone who will take care of you when you need caring. Someone who is willing to offer his life, before you offer yours."

Lenne bit her lip, the same way she did when they first met. "I have no one."

Shuyin looked at her intently. "Everyone has someone."

Lenne looked back at him. This time, he saw a spark in her eyes that weren't there before. _Was it sadness?_ "I suppose you have your someone?"

"Er..." Shuyin stammered, scratching his head. "The truth is, I have no one as well." It was embarrassing to admit, that he actually had no one after bravely saying everyone had someone.

Lenne grinned, a little – if not all – of the sadness going away. "Then wouldn't it be nice to have each other?"

Shuyin felt his face burn. Turning away from her and making his way to the inner chamber, he sat down on the platform of another High Summoner he didn't know the name of. "Well, anyway, aren't you supposed to go do your business with the Fayth here? I mean, you're going to be a Summoner now. I'm surprised no one has gathered to witness the birth of another Summoner."

Lenne looked over at him, her hands clasped behind her back. "The truth is, I didn't tell anyone."

"That's not nice. This is a special day for you. Your loved ones should be here."

"Not really. They know that I've been training since I was seven. I'm eighteen now. They all know that I'll be making my first Summons tomorrow, after my, I mean, _the _concert." Lenne moved to the other statue of another High Summoner right across him and sat down. "You see, if I pass, then it is for the whole of Zanarkand to know. But what if I fail?"

Shuyin shrugged his trademark shrug. "Then it is for the whole of Zanarkand to know as well. But failure, it's a passing ship. They'll moan about it for a while but forget about it in no time." He knew perfectly well what he was talking about. Once in the home game against the Al Bhed Psyches, there were ten seconds remaining on the clock, and he had the ball. There were a lot of embarrassing details, and when one would summarize it, they would just say _Oh he fumbled the ball. What a shame. _They won by three points. But to die-hard fans, it didn't matter. You fumbled the ball, so you were the goat.

Lenne smiled. Or at least she tried to. "I'm too spoiled because I get everything I want. I even get things I didn't know I needed." She got up. "It was wrong of me to force you into becoming my Guardian. I mean, who am I for you to put your life on the line for me? Although I know you just did, with the Tonberry. But I think that was already more than enough." With that, she started walking up to the stairs that led to the Chamber of the Fayth.

Shuyin followed her with his eyes. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Lenne pushed open the door but looked back at him before entering. "I really am sorry I got you into this. Since you have nowhere else to go, can you wait for me out here? Then we can make it back to the city proper together. Maybe by then the Tonberry would be gone?"

Shuyin made himself comfortable on his seat and slouching a little against the foot of the statue. "Sure. They'll eventually get tired and go away." He slipped his sword back into its scabbard and crossed his legs. "Well, if you need anything - "

"– I'll just call to you, right?" Lenne continued the sentence for him. She was holding on to the door with one hand, half her face hidden behind a curtain of dark hair.

Shuyin blinked then nodded. "Yeah."

With that, she disappeared into the door, which heavily closed behind her.

Shuyin listened to the echo of the door and found himself in a silence filled only with the faint singing of the Fayth. He looked around and tried to absorb his surroundings, and he wondered why it happened that the Temple was deserted. It rarely happened, as far as he knew.

Lying back on the cold platform, putting his arms behind his head, he stared at the high, almost unseen ceiling. There he was again with his favorite past time. He closed hi eyes and after a few moments, he was starting to drift into dreamland. It was such a weird dream. He dreamed that he was running after Lenne, who was being carried away by a group of Tonberry. She was calling out to him, but no matter how fast or how hard he ran, he just couldn't get to her. He reached out to her, when suddenly, a wide, damp object suddenly plastered itself onto his face. He clawed at it, screaming. Then he jerked awake.

He discovered that the damp thing was a broad piece of paper that had come out of nowhere. It had probably floated into the Temple from an unseen opening from somewhere above. He groggily shook himself from that eerie dream, sat up and looked down at the paper in his hand. He nearly fell out of his seat when he saw the picture of Lenne in a glimmering attire, mike at hand. Her hair was curled and styled in a way that was too sophisticated for his taste but he could never miss those grey eyes. It was unmistakably Lenne.

His breath catching, he heard Lenne's voice echo in his mind.

_...I want you to come to a concert on the night after tomorrow. It's a special concert..._

_... You really don't know me?_

He read the rest of the poster to himself. _1000 Word Concert by The Songstress Lenne. Don't miss her last but definitely her best performance in this era!_

Shuyin gently looked up, closed his eyes and smiled. "You never even told me. And I didn't even know you." Standing up, he made his way to the nearest torch, crumpled the poster and threw it into the fire. It was immediately consumed into the ashes. Since Lenne didn't tell him first hand, he decided he had no right to know about it. He shuffled along back to the platform and lied down again, this time, slipping into a dreamless sleep.

Lenne stared at the Fayth as she gave her a small bow.

This was her first time to see a Fayth. She felt like she was watching a sphere. She was so faint and translucent to her. But she could see her well enough. She was a tall, thin lady in a revealing red dress, her silver hair looked really out of place for she had a young face.

"_Hello, dear. What is your name?"_ said the Fayth. _"I am called Mayali." _

Lenne bowed down for a prayer and straightened. "I am Lenne, Lady Mayali. I wish to ask aid from your power." She kneeled down and did some complicated hand gestures she had for eleven years practiced over and over.

Mayali laughed. Lenne stiffened and wondered if she was doing something wrong. _"Really now, child. Don't be so formal. Why is it that every single Summoner is as stiff as a board when they come and visit?"_

Lenne looked up at her from the floor. "Huh? But Lady Mayali, this is how we were taught."

"_I suppose...Get up, child. I wish to ask you something."_

Lenne did so.

Mayali smiled at her. _"We Fayth are beings that surpass time and space. We exist not only in this era, but also in the future. That is why I know all about you, Lenne. I know what lies in your future. But before that, I want to ask you. Who is that young man waiting for you by the Temple entrance?"_

Lenne froze. This was such an unexpected question. "He is a friend, Lady Mayali."

"_I see. Well, as far as I could see – and mind you, I see very far – you two will have a long journey ahead of you."_

Lenne felt a sudden relief bubble up her throat. She was surprised at the degree of happiness she felt in knowing Shuyin would actually play an important role in her life. Then again, the moment she saw him, he kind of actually knew already. "That's good to hear."

Mayali was not happy, though. _"Yes, a journey that is long and hard." _She shifted. _"However, I do not think I have it in my heart to tell you about it."_

Lenne nodded. "I think that will be a good idea. I really am not interested to know my future."

Mayali was surprised. _"This is a first. Very well." _ She waved her hand and suddenly, her image was replaced by a huge bird-like creature that looked like it was on fire. Its wing span could easily have been twenty feet wide, its majestic head almost touching the high ceiling.

Mayali's voice sounded inside the chamber. _"I lend you aid, Summoner Lenne, with my Aeon. Call unto it by the name of the_ Phoenix!_ " _

Lenne felt a hot wind suddenly rise from nowhere. She felt her skin prick and she backed away with a little squeak. Her long hair started to stand up and she felt herself scream but didn't hear her voice. Yevon, she was frightened! She glanced to where the huge bird was at, but gasped at what she saw. The Phoenix was circling over her like a large, burning vulture. One moment it was hovering, the next, diving.

Towards her!

She screamed loudly, holding her arms over her face, waiting for a burning sensation. She waited. And waited. But the hot stinging sensation didn't come. She opened one eye, then another. She lowered her arms and saw Mayali smiling sweetly at her.

"_Congratulations, Lenne. You have become a Summoner."_

Lenne couldn't believe it. She was expecting something to change in her. But she felt as if she were still the same.

"_Do not be worried. Call upon me when you need my help. I will come, no matter what."_

"Wait a minute. That's it? Aren't you going to ask me of my intentions _why_ I wasn't to become a Summoner?" Lenne asked, hardly containing her disbelief.

At that, Mayali laughed richly. _"Why do I need to? I know you more than you know yourself."_ And with that, she disappeared.

"Shuyin!"

Shuyin shot up from where he was lying the very moment he heard Lenne call. He quickly unsheathed his sword and ran up the stairs that led to the door of the Chamber of the Fayth. "Lenne! Wha - "

Before he could finish, the door exploded open and popped out an eager Lenne. He wasn't able to react fast enough. Lenne rushed out like an eager kid, jumped up and clung to his neck in an eager embrace.

"What the - !" Shuyin uttered, losing grip on his sword as the impact sent them both flying into the air. The girl didn't seem to have any sense of danger! Shuyin gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs and, as if in slow motion, Shuyin put his arms around her and braced for the impact as they crashed onto the Temple pavement. Pain shot up from his back, sending a jolt to his skull. His sword clamored noisily a few feet to his left.

Lenne didn't seem to care. She raised her eager face to him and laughed like a maniac. "I've become a Summoner, Shuyin!"

Shuyin didn't know how to respond as his world was still spinning. When he finally came to his senses, he gulped at the reality of things. He was lying down, flat on his back with Lenne's hands pressing down his chest, her utterly exposed legs spread over his torso. Blood rushed to his face like a tidal wave. As usual, Lenne didn't show any shame at her position.

"Aren't you happy for me?" She asked.

Shuyin cleared his throat. "I am, really." He pushed himself up, propping himself on both hands. Lenne didn't let go of his chest and as embarrassing as it was, her legs were still around his body. "Congratulations."

Lenne giggled and threw her arms around him into another too-tight embrace. "I did it!"

Shuyin took a deep breath and was once again overwhelmed by her scent. Wildflowers mingled with a bit of sweat. Her long hair was draped all over her shoulders and his. She was breathing heavily. "Yes you did. I wasn't expecting you to be that quick. You haven't been gone for more than thirty minutes, to say the least."

Lenne pulled back, gazed into his eyes and laughed, but didn't say anything.

Shuyin shook his head but couldn't suppress a grin. "I'm honored to be the first to witness you success. Let's go back and tell everyone. There will be a celebration tonight."

Lenne didn't move.

"Lenne?" Shuyin patted her gently on the back. She didn't move. He gave her a little shake. Still no response. He held her by the arms and pulled her away from him. She had her eyes closed, her eyelids fluttering gently, like a child who was having a good dream.

"She's sleeping," Shuyin murmured. Shifting positions, he cradled her into his arms and stood up. He made his way to the platform where he slept, laid her there and sighed.

_I guess we can't leave yet, then._

He looked at her sleeping figure and then moved to gather his sword. He could not believe how today was turning out. He crossed the Temple lobby and kneeled by the blocked entrance of the Temple and tried to peer out between the cracks of the now ruined statue of Lady Yunalesca. He could see the clearing, now free of Tonberry, and of any fiend for that matter. Judging from the light, he could say it was a little past noon. They needed to get out of there before nightfall, or Yevon knows what might be lurking in the dark. It'll probably take a good hour or so just to move the rubble. He glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping Lenne and sighed.

_Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I let her sleep, just for a while... _


	7. the promise

**Yay! Chapter Six!!!! **

**Disclaimer: None of what I'm writing is mine. Except maybe the names of some of the made-up characters... Then again that doesn't really matter. Hehehe! I DON'T OWN FFX2.**

Lenne woke to the gentle stroking of someone's hand on her head. She opened her eyes and blinked slowly as she saw Shuyin's chiseled face looking down at her with his usual dull expression.

"I would normally let people take their time sleeping, but we really have to go," he said, standing up when he saw she was awake. Lenne got up groggily and wiped a bit of dirt from the side of her face. She watched as Shuyin knelt by the remains of Lady Yunalesca's statue and felt her heart skip a beat as she remembered what Lady Mayali had told her. There would be more of him in her life than she thought...

"Shuyin, what time is it? Have I been sleeping long?"

Shuyin didn't turn around as he answered her. He continued to examine the rubble, probably looking for a place to start digging. "I don't know, really. An hour. Maybe two. I didn't want to wake you, but we need to start moving or nightfall will make it even harder for us to get back. I've already started moving some of the rock here, but it'll be easier and faster if we work together. Are you up to it?" He looked over her shoulder. "We don't want anyone worrying about you, you know. I'm sure many are looking for you now."

Shuyin let his stare linger for a second too long, making Lenne uneasy. _Does he know? _"I suppose." She got up, stretched a bit and made her way to the mess, rubbing her hands together before grabbing hold of a fairly huge rock and rolling it away with a grunt. "My, that was heavy." She was about to get hold of another rock when something dropped by her feet. "Huh?" She looked down and saw it was a glove. Shuyin's glove. The other one dropped next to it, causing a small cloud of dust to rise.

Shuyin continued working with incredibly big boulders. He didn't look at her at all. He was going to work with his bare hands. "Use those. They're too big for you, but at least you won't bruise your hands."

Lenne looked at him for a moment and than picked up the gloves, slipping them over her tender hands. They were huge. She wriggled her fingers inside it and wordlessly went back to work.

They worked without talking. Lenne hated every minute of that thirty minute episode. She would have loved to talk to this mysterious guy, maybe ask him a bit about himself. But she decided against it, not because she was afraid that Shuyin would just ignore her, but because Shuyin didn't look like he wanted to talk. He was so serious.

_What journey would we possibly have and survive when we hardly even talk to each other? _Lenne wondered as she straightened when Shuyin shoved the boulder aside that finally gave way to an opening big enough for them to squeeze through. Taking off the gloves, she handed it back to him and smiled. "Thank you." She gasped as Shuyin reached for the gloves with one hand. "Shuyin! You're bleeding!"

"What? Oh, that," he mumbled, not really interested at the bleeding scratches on his palms. Lenne grabbed his wrists and turned his palms toward her.

"You've scraped your hands raw. Those will sting." She dug into her pocket and produced one potion, handing it over to him. "Here, take this."

Shuyin looked at it slowly, took it then rubbed it between his hands. He took the gloves from her and then slipped it on. "Let's go." He clambered over the rubble then turned around and offered her his hand. "Come on. Take my hand."

Lenne did so, and he pulled her up effortlessly. Again she was impressed by his strength. She wondered what he did for a living.

There was still a bit of light out, but they didn't waste their time in getting out of there. Lenne pulled her hood on and was surprised when she saw Shuyin did the same. She wondered for probably the fifth time that day what he was hiding from.

"So," Lenne muttered as they silently made their way up the back road that led to the freeway.

"Hm?" Shuyin asked, glancing at her quickly, then looking away again.

Lenne listened to the crunching of dead branches beneath her boots, then said, "Please come to the concert tomorrow. I promise you, you won't be sorry."

Shuyin's head jerked up, as if surprised, then lowered it again. "I'll see if I can."

Lenne exhaled sharply. "Oh, come on. It's not like you'd be doing anything important tomorrow night."

Shuyin coughed uncomfortably. "Not really."

"Then you'll come?" Lenne asked excitedly. She didn't even know why she was so persistent.

Shuyin once again let a few moments of silence pass before he finally nodded faintly. "Sure."

By the time they reached the freeway, the sun was already hiding behind the tallest building to the west. Shuyin watched as Lenne squatted tiredly next to him.

She let out a really exhausted breath, gathering her hair over her left shoulder. Once again, Shuyin could not believe a human person could actually maintain such long hair and not get it in tangles after a brush with death. "Whew! We made it."

Shuyin looked around the freeway. There weren't many people out. And again, he wondered why. "I'll hail you a hover. It'll take you to the City Square."

"Huh? What about you?"

Shuyin felt his lips compress. It was too embarrassing to say. "I don't have any money for a hover."

"That's okay. I'll pay."

He shook his head. "I'd rather walk. It'll do me good." The truth was, he was dead tired and he wanted to go home. But he just didn't want to ride a hover.

He didn't trust machina.

"Shuyin, you've been running around all day. It'll be quicker for you if you ride with me."

"I'll be okay. Here's one now." He stuck out his hand on the freeway and the hover halted swiftly in front of them. It looked hideous, like a metal cart with a huge propeller behind it. "Get on."

Lenne stubbornly shook her head. "I think I'd rather have you ride with me." She turned to the driver of the hover. The old man gave them a bored look. "We're not riding."

"She's riding." Shuyin faced Lenne. "Now get on."

"Where d'ya wanna go?" the driver asked, looking at them both with droopy eyes. He looked like he was going to fall asleep right where he sat.

Lenne turned to Shuyin. "If you're not going, I'm not going."

"Get on." Shuyin then turned back to the driver. "Take her to the City Square."

The driver peered at Lenne's face. Lenne pulled her hood closer to cover her face. "Get on, miss."

Shuyin frowned. "Well? We don't have all day. Get on." He hesitated, then said, "I'll see you tomorrow night."

This seemed to cheer her up. "Okay." She climbed onboard and settled herself behind the driver, who didn't look like he cared whether or not she took the ride. "Take care of yourself, Shuyin."

Shuyin blinked slowly and made himself look her in the eye. He wanted to see those eyes before she left. Such beautiful eyes. "Take care, Lenne." With that, the hover sped away.

Machina... he really didn't trust them.

-= =-

Lenne had a bored expression on her face as she listened to Choras deliver her litany. Last night, she thought she had gotten away with it, sneaking into her room without getting noticed, but woke up the next day with Choras' face inches from hers, her stern expression set, then she strong-armed her into telling the truth of where she had been and what happened. When she found out, she got even madder.

She talked for hours, about responsibility to other people, about not forgetting to tell her when she's going out and when she'll be back. It went on, and on, and on, and on, and on and on...

"Choras, haven't I apologized enough?" She asked, frustration seeping into her voice.

"You most certainly have not, young lady. You should have told me. I should have been there for you when you became a Summoner." The very thought momentarily distracted her. "My Lenne! A Summoner!" She quickly reverted to her stern look when the thought passed and rounded on her again. "I was worried about you. You have to introduce me to that young man - what's his name? – Shin – "

"– Shuyin."

"Yes, Shuyin. If it weren't for him, you would have been sent to the Farplane by now." She giggled. _Giggled! _Choras never giggled! "Is he good-looking? I bet he's fallen for you that's why he protected you."

Lenne grimaced. "Hardly. He didn't have any choice. I gave him a ticket for my concert tonight. I don't know if he'll come. He said he will, but I'm not counting on it, really. He didn't seem the type to like music."

"Oh, he'll come. I mean, the Sngstress herself invitaed him."

Lenne laughed timidly. "That's the point. He didn't know who I was."

"Don't be silly, girl. Everyone knows you."

"Apparently not." Lenne stood up and stretched a bit. "I'll be rehearsing now. If he comes, I'll introduce him to you. _If_ he comes." She turned to her nanny and smiled sheepishly. "I really am sorry, Choras. Tonight will be the finale of Lenne, the Songstress. And after that, Summoner Lenne will be introduced."

"You really are leaving, aren't you?" Choras asked sadly.

Lenne nodded. "But as promised, after I finish my pilgrimage, I'll be back." She turned to leave.

-= =-

That night, Shuyin got ready to go for the 1000 Word Concert of the Songstress. _For Lenne's concert_. The whole day, he had been making up his mind whether or no to go. He decided to see her sing.

But that was the hard part to understand. _Why _did he want to go? He didn't like crowds, and he didn't like music.

_Could it be that I like Lenne?_

The very thought made him blush. What would a beautiful, famous personality see in him anyway?

He left his apartment and started off to the theatre, his ticket, already rumpled and ripped in one part clutched in his hand. He walked aimlessly, his thoughts in the clouds when suddenly, a body crashed head on with him. He felt his feet leave the ground and he saw himself sprawled on the floor. He looked around and saw people passing by stare at him for a moment then continue on their way.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." Said a voice from in front of him. He looked at the man who had knocked him down. He, too, was on the ground, gathering what looked like a sphere recorder from the floor. He was such an odd fellow. He was wearing black robes that looked too big for him and a tiara that kept on falling on his eyes.

"Don't worry. It's nothing." Shuyin stood up and tried to help the guy up. He was tall and gangly, with thick glasses on the tip of his long nose. He appeared to be in his early twenties. "Are you all right?"

The man nodded, clutching the sphere recorder in his arms. "Yes thank you." He looked at Shuyin and smiled a toothy grin, then his eyes fell into his hand with the ticket. He groaned in agony. "You've got a ticket! How come you have one? I was sold out."

Shuyin looked at the ticket in his hands. "Oh, this? I got it two days ago."

The man whined. "I came all the way from Luca just to watch Lady Lenne perform. I got here just this afternoon and lined up for seven hours straight just to get a ticket. All that way for nothing!" He looked like he was going to cry. But then again, he couldn't blame him. He looked at he guy from head to foot. He was dirty. He probably traveled on foot, left Luca the moment he knew of the concert.

Shuyin held out his ticket. "Here. Have mine."

The guy looked like he was going to have a heart attack. "Are you serious?"

Shuyin, paused for a moment, suddenly hearing Lenne's voice echo in his mind. _Please come to the concert tomorrow. I promise you, you won't be sorry. _He sighed, then smiled. "Take it. I really wasn't going to watch it."

The guy was hyperventilating as he gingerly took the ticket from him as if it were a piece of very thin glass. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me!" He looked at Shuyin. "My name is Maechen. I owe you a lot." He bowed down deeply.

Shuyin scratched his head, embarrassed. "Don't mention it, Maechen. Just go and have fun." He suddenly remembered what Lenne said. "That's front row center. A lot of people will kill for that ticket. So enjoy it."

Maechen laughed hysterically and nodded, then scuttled away. "I can't believe I actually got a ticket!" Shuyin heard him say.

Somehow, Shuyin felt happy, knowing he had helped someone. But what he couldn't understand was his deep disappointment when he realized he was not going to see Lenne tonight.

_And probably, when she finds out I didn't keep my promise, not ever._

-= =-

The theatre was packed. Lenne took a bow as the crowd erupted into crazy applause as she finished her third song that night. As she straightened, her sight once again lingered on the front row of the lined seats near the stage, and again, her face fell.

_He didn't even show._

The degree of disappointment surprised her. It was not like it should matter, but it did. She was momentarily distracted when she saw a tall man in a dark robe stand on his chair. He almost fell off when he raised his sphere recorder over his head. Lenne couldn't help but laugh. What an oddball. Giggling softly, she jumped off the stage. The crowd went wild! Everyone reached out for their hand to be touched by the famous Songstress. She went down the line of eager fans until he made it to the silly man.

_This is where Shuyin is supposed to sit._

"Lady Lenne! Lady Lenne! Oh, what an honor!" he completely abandoned his sphere recorder to the ground and lunged at Lenne as if to tackle her. Lenne screamed bloody murder and was immediately taken aback when the man sprawled to the ground like a gecko a few feet from her.

Lenne peered down at him cautiously as she would an animal trampled by a chocobo. "A-are you all right?"

The man looked like he had died, but bolted to a standing position after a few seconds. His thick glasses almost fell from his nose. Lenne staggered a few steps back, honestly frightened by his enthusiasm.

Lenne smiled uncertainly. "Uh – hello..." She reached out and shook his hand.  
The man almost fainted. "Oh, Lenne! Hello. My name is Maechen! I came all the way from Luca just to watch you sing for the last time. I'm you're biggest fan! I almost wasn't able to get in but this nice young man, he gave me his ticket instead, he looked kind of depressed, but then again, who wouldn't? He missed your concert because he felt sorry for me... May Yevon bless his soul."

At that moment, Lenne felt the noise of the crowd mute down at what she heard. _Shuyin...you feather-headed chocobo... _She found herself smiling to herself, feeling rather idiotic. Shuyin did not come not because he didn't want to!

Lenne laughed for the whole theatre to hear. "Hi, everybody! I hope you're having a great time!"

The crowd roared.

"Well, as you all know, this will be my last performance. I will surely miss you. You al have been so god to me. I really appreciate your support."

Suddenly, the loud ruckus quieted down. Everyone was listening to her. Everyone wanted to hear.

Lenne made her way up the stage and sighed loudly. "I really do love singing for you. I've grown up on the stage, and this is the only time I will stop what I was only to become what I want to be. Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday, I had officially become a SUmmoner."

Everyone gasped. After a moment of silence, however, they started to clap. A smatter of applause broke through the crowd.

Lenne felt tears well up in her eyes. "Thank you. You're all too kind. After this concert, I will start my pilgrimage."

This time, no one clapped.

"I will be leaving alone. But I am not unhappy. I am doing this for the benefit of my people, and so I have no regrets. My cause remains the same, whether I be on the Summoner's ranks or under the spotlight. I only have just one request; please let me be in your memories forever. Never forget me, because I will surely never forget you. Tonight, my friends, I will see my very first star... This song is for all of you."

She raised her mike to her mouth, let her eyes wander among the crowd, and when her sight fell on the edge of the queue at the very back of the theatre, the words just froze in her throat.

There, in the shadows, at the farthest corner of the room, was...

"Shuyin..." she heard herself whisper.

The crowd began to murmur in confusion, wondering what was going on. Each, one by one, turned their heads to the area where the Songstress was looking.

Lenne smiled. "You came..." she said hoarsely.

**(Author's note: You know that weird guy, right? He had the big secret in FFX-2? Hint! Hint! Hint! He was in the sphere Zanarkand's Prime... Yup, that's him!)**


	8. Little Star

**Hi. =) Regardless of my plans of updating everyday, I don't think I'll be able to update as often now. I still am not convinced if a lot of people are interested to read Lenne's pilgrimage, so I guess I'll wait for more R and R. (Yuugiri: How egotistical can you get? Yuugiri: Hey! I also want to feel appreciated!) So this may be the last chapter for now, until I see if people want me to continue. (Yuugiri: So u'd better damn make reviews for my fic!!! Yuugiri: Sheesh! You're pathetic!!!) That was me arguing with me. =)**

**Oh, and I think I made a booboo! That was a spoiler, I guess I should have warned you. I read it in some walkthrough. Maechen's big secret is that he is really an unsent and... hehehe! Well, anyway, he was that in the sphere.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2 and anything related to it. When I do, I'll inform you immediately. **

Shuyin was looking up at the typical Zanarkand sky when he heard the crowd roar in delight at the end of the third song. He was sitting on the marble stone steps that led up to the Theatre where he could hear muffled music coming from inside. For some unexplainable reason, he could not bring himself to walk away and go home. So instead, he had settled on the place where he could be nearest to Lenne's concert. He was not alone, though. Those people who were not able to purchase tickets were scattered within the place, some moping while some had dozed off on patches of grass around tall trees rooted to the pavement.

He had tried to walk away, but it seemed like an unseen force was dragging him to wait there.

His ears prickled as he became aware of the silence coming from within the dome-like theatre, except for more muffled talking. Lenne was probably giving a speech. He stood up and started to walk to the far wall of the building, rummaging through the bushes like a slinking cat. _What the heck am I doing? _ He could swear that he could hear the voice from somewhere near the bushes...

And sure enough, when he reached further into the bushes, he saw a small square vent that lay wide open. The screens were burnt open, as if explosives were used to open it and it looked like a job done not too long ago 

_This is probably where little kids sneak into just to get a free peak in performances._

The vent looked promising. He dropped to his hands and knees, looked around before finally plunging into the dark opening. It was a tight fit around the shoulders, but he was still able to craw his way through. As he got father and farther away from where he came from, he could hear the voice talking grow louder and clearer. It was definitely Lenne.

"... Leaving alone. But I am not unhappy. I am doing this for the benefit of my people, and so I have no regrets." She was saying, her voice magnified by a microphone. "My cause remains the same, whether I be on the Summoner's ranks or under the spotlight. I only have just one request..." Shuyin popped out of the other end of the vent and gratefully stretched his broad shoulders. It was really cramped in there! He discovered he had ended up at the very back portion of the theatre, but because it was elevated there, he could see Lenne, there in the middle of the stage. Yevon, she was beautiful! It appeared as if her presence jumped out from the stage, however tiny she was from his point of view. She was wearing a long thin silver dress that looked like it was made from mist. Shuyin inched forward a bit as she began to talk again. "Please, let me be in your memories forever. Never forget me, because I will surely never forget you. Tonight, my friends, I will see my very first star... This song is for all of you."

Shuyin watched as she raised her mike to her mouth, scanned her spectators and freeze. "Shuyin..." she whispered faintly.

_She can see me. _His thoughts spun. _She knows I'm here. And she's glad._

The crowd began to murmur in confusion, wondering what was going on. Each, one by one, turned their heads to the area where the Songstress was looking.

Shuyin watched as Lenne smiled. "You came..." she said hoarsely.

He felt himself nod as if encouraging her to continue with her song.

She nodded back at him and music filled the theatre, followed by her singing.

"_Little star, I know you're there._

_Somewhere looking down at me._

_Shining bright though I know I can't see you._

_Little star, oh please make my wish come true..._

"_Heaven cried a million tears_

_when she saw you leave me._

_I cried a million eternities just to rid the pain_

_But now you're back, so please never leave again._

"_The sun witnessed poems _

_I've written just for you._

_A thousand words of endless prose_

_But all could be summed up in three little words. _

"_I love you..._

_could it be that _

_I need you..._

"_Could it be that like the stars_

_You're there but I don't notice?_

_But all I need are two little things;_

_Just you and your promise..._

"_That you love me too..."_

The truth was, Shuyin never understood those words. He was too busy listening to Lenne herself as she continued her singing. Everyone in the Theatre was swaying to the melody as the lights on the stage dimmed, lighting Lenne with a single spotlight on top of her.

He felt himself swaying along. _She's a sorceress. She can put everyone under her spell with a few notes..._

He was too busy looking at Lenne that he didn't even realize she had finished the song. Everyone warmly gave her a standing ovation.

"Thank you, everyone. I will surely miss you... Please - "

Before Lenne could finish with her last speech for that night, an explosion came from directly above the theatre dome, sending debris and dirt to rain down on everyone.

"What the - !?" Shuyin hissed as his reflexes sprang into action. The crowd was now in a frenzy, everyone going fro one direction to another, screaming at the top of their lungs. Then came more explosions, this time from the right side of the stage.

Shuyin gasped, as he tried to elbow his way forward. "Lenne!"

He couldn't see her anymore. The last thing he saw of her was her startled face when the first explosion happened, then the people went wild. He didn't know what was going on until he made it to the stage, where Lenne was down on the ground, unconscious with Maechen kneeling in front of her, a determined look on his thin face.

"What's going on?" Maechen called to him as Shuyin slid to a stop next to Lenne's unmoving body.

Shuyin looked over his shoulder to the place where the second explosion came, and only one observation drew back at him. _There was an open vent ... Someone tried to sneak in, not because they wanted to watch the concert. Someone wanted to sabotage it._

Shuyin cradled Lenne's head in his arms, slapping her gently on the cheeks. "Lenne. Lenne! Wake up! It's not time yet for you to go to sleep. Your pilgrimage, you have to go on with the pilgrimage."

After a couple more slaps, Lenne's eyes fluttered open. "Shuyin? What...?"

"Get up. Go with Maechen." Shuyin turned to the lanky fellow. He was starting to gain more respect for him. He, of all the people in this theatre, was the only one who had stayed behind.

The people were starting to block up the two passages on either sides of the theatre. Everyone was in a hurry to get out in fear that there would be a next explosion. Women were starting to cry and men were already fighting each other to get to the exit first.

Shuyin cursed under his breath as he handed a very weak Lenne to Maechen. "Take care of her. Get her out as fast as you can." He didn't wait for a reply. He pushed himself up and dashed to where the second explosion had happened, ignoring Lenne's calls to him

This was not his week. Everything seemed to be going wrong. He pushed himself against the panicking crowd and almost slid as he skidded to a stop by a gaping hole at the right side of the theatre.

There was only one word that was swimming in his brain at that very moment, anger and hatred welling up in his chest. _Bevelle._

He covered his nose with his forearm and edged closer to the hole...

And gasped at what he saw.

"Oh, no..." He heard himself murmur hoarsely. "Oh, no..."


	9. i'll come with you

**I've read your reviews and one of you (Hi there! You know who you are!) gave a comment on Sin not being there and Yevon not existing yet. =) Sorry for the inconsistency as compared to the game. It's really embarrassing for me, and I really don't want to look bad in front of my readers so I'll try to find a loophole for that mistake. Wehehehe! Yevon is a principle of belief that gave the people hope during the 1000 years of Sin's time. By ffx2, people ceased to believe Yevon since Sin has disappeared though there are still some who can't let go of the religion. Temples of Yevon were erected all around Spira and the main was in Bevelle, so I assumed that the belief started from Bevelle, who won the Machina war, thus destroying Zanarkand. Once again, I assumed that since they won over Zanarkand, who probably had a different belief that's why they dropped the bomb on them, their belief spread over Spira's farthest regions, giving people false hopes and misled objectives. Perhaps, Yevon was already there existing in Bevelle 1000 years ago during Lenne and Shuyin's time, but not everyone in Spira had the same insight, thus resulting to misunderstandings... Right? **

**Oh, and the reason why I keep on using "Oh, Yevon!" as a cuss thing, is because I think it would sound better than "Oh, God!" Hehehehe! Boy, that was long! I really have to cover up my mistakes bigtime, DarkRonan! Thanks for pointing it out!**

**NOW it's chapter 8 time!!! Yay!!!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I really don't own FFX-2... **

Shuyin's breath caught in his throat and he felt his muscles tighten at the abomination he saw in the gaping hole, although he somehow assumed that this was what he will be seeing all along. There, sitting quite comfortably in the blown away portion of the wall, was a disfigured body of a man, patches of skin and hair were already burned away obviously from the explosion. It was a suicidal attack. They probably knew that once they get in the theatre, they won't be able to get out without being caught. _And so they killed themselves._

Shuyin's eyes traveled from one part of the theatre to another, fearing the worst. _There could be more of them..._

The people had nearly evacuated, however slow and noisy. The stench of burning human flesh made his stomach churn violently. He was about to leave the area and look around some more when Lenne suddenly materialized beside him.

"What are you doing here?" Shuyin demanded, grabbing her aside, but it was too late. She saw the corpse. He watched as Lenne's eyes – _such beautiful eyes_ – widen, then she bent forward and began to throw up her dinner. Shuyin rubbed her back worriedly. "I told you not to follow, Lenne. Where is Maechen?"

At that instant, Maechen came staggering from the crowd. "I'm sorry! The people, they trampled me... and when I looked back, she was gone and - " It was his time to see the corpse, and, like Lenne, he started to vomit.

Shuyin pulled Lenne upright and brushed away from her face matted locks of hair. "Breathe. Long and deep breathes. That's right. You'll be fine. Now get out of here. It isn't safe."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No. I'll stay here with you."

Maechen belched.

Shuyin groaned. "Not now, Lenne. You can be assertive when you're not in danger."

"What? My life isn't in danger."

Shuyin felt his anger boil down to the surface. Why did she have to be this difficult? He pointed to the dead body. "Lenne, that man is wearing a red uniform. He's holding a bladed gun. Do you know what that means? That means he is a Bevelle soldier. Bigger things are happening now. Things neither you nor I understand. And as far as I know or as far as I'd let myself care, this has something to do with war. You know it's been a while now. And Bevelle isn't exactly the friendly type."

Lenne listened to him in disbelief. "But... why my concert?"

Shuyin shook his head. "The psychology of war is hard to understand." He touched her shoulder and squeezed it timidly. "Are you okay?"

Lenne swallowed. "I suppose."

"That's a good girl. Are you ready to find a place to stay?"

Her answer almost made him rip his hair out. "No."

"Lenne!"

"No, Shuyin. I am a Summoner now. The more reason why I should stay. "

Unfortunately, he was completely stumped with that reply. The truth was, he was really worried about more than just Lenne. People could have gotten hurt.

_People could have died._

Shuyin sighed, then took Lenne's hand in his. "Let's go, Lenne. Let's get out of here."

She looked suspicious, probably expecting a fight that he would stay and she should go. After a moment, she nodded. "All right."

Shuyin nodded back grimly, motioning for Maechen to follow them. The theatre was deserted, and their footsteps echoed in the sudden silence that replaced the sounds of cheering and music of earlier. This was not what Shuyin was expecting from Lenne's concert. He was expecting maybe him congratulating her for the great performance and he even expected that he will learn to appreciate such form of entertainment. But not this. This was too much even for him.

Again, he wondered why people ever have to start a war in order to have peace. It was a complete paradox to him. That in order for a side to win, the other side had to be totally obliterated. It was just a cycle, a never-ending cycle of hatred and grief. And to him, it was utterly pointless. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt pressure on his right hand. It was only then did he remember he was holding her hand. He looked down at her and felt his heart ache. She looked tired. And frightened. And confused. She didn't deserve any of this.

"Hey. Are you all right?" he asked, nudging her a bit as they made their way to the backstage, a sickly Maechen following behind.

She met his gaze with those eyes and frowned. It didn't suit her. She should smile all the time. "Shuyin, is it because you don't trust me?"

That was a weird question. He stopped walking and tried to let go of her hand, but Lenne held on. "What do you mean?"

Lenne bit her lip, then said, "You wanted me to get out of the line of danger, even though you knew I am already a Summoner. Is it because you don't think I can handle it?"

Shuyin's eyebrows raised incredulously. "That never even brushed my afterthought."

"Then why?"

He opened his mouth to say something, but found out that he didn't really have any explanation why he didn't want her there. "I don't know."

Lenne didn't stop there. Maechen was watching them a few feet away, his face a pale green color. "Then at the Temple, you could have easily run off from the Tonberry the other way, away from the Temple, but you chose to stay and help me get to the Chamber of the Fayth. You risked your life for me then, coz you knew I needed to get there. Is it because you didn't think I could do it alone?"

"I don't know."

She tugged at his arm roughly. "Tell me. You think I'm weak, don't you?"

Shuyin was flabbergasted. "What? Lenne, I never thought of you as weak. It never even occurred to me that was how you thought I felt about it. I just..." he looked away. "I just didn't want you to get hurt."

That made her shut up. She looked at him silently for a moment, then she broke into a smile. "I see." Then she started off to the backstage, dragging him along. Maechen lumbered along, groaning and complaining about his stomach.

Shuyin shook his hand free, embarrassed. Lenne glanced back at him questioningly. "Let's go," he said, brushing past her to the curtains. He had to make sure there weren't any soldiers holding more bombs or rifles that would put anyone in danger.

Lenne followed him, skipping and when she reached his side, she grabbed his arm and grinned up at him. It freaked Shuyin out, that grin. "What?" he mumbled uncomfortably.

Lenne shook her head, her long hair swishing down her back. "Nothing."

Shuyin felt the hair stand at the back of his neck. She was such a happy girl. "Why... why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Because I feel like it."

"You're freaking me out. Stop it."

"But I can't help it."

"Help it. You're really freaking me out."

She giggled, but didn't say anything. She didn't let go of his arm, either. They went all the way to the back exit, where the wind was starting to pick up from the south, from Mt. Gagazet. Lenne stopped laughing when she saw Zanarkand soldiers gathering at the entrance of the place. When they were spotted, three of the soldiers hurried to them, ignoring both Lenne and Shuyin, but immediately intercepting Maechen, who didn't know what was happening.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lenne asked as she watched them take the silly fellow away.

Shuyin didn't bother to listen. He looked around and saw hovers parked at the far side of the square, filled with people. The rest of the crowd was huddled in the other side. He squinted at the hover and saw a little old lady in clothes unmistakably from Kilika. Beside her was a middle-aged man who looked like he was from Luca, like Maechen. _They're taking away people who came from other towns. _Shuyin turned to Lenne who was still trying to weasel information from the soldiers. He watched as they dragged a panicking Maechen to the hover.

"Take it easy, big guy. You're not alone there," Shuyin said as the fellow in black robes passed him. Partly he felt sorry. The guy did help Lenne out. But he knew that this was what should be done. Anyone could be a potential suspect, since it was obvious someone had smuggled explosives in the city, be it Bevelle soldiers in disguise. It was great timing, too. It was so busy the whole week for Lenne's concert that no one could have kept track of the visitors entering the premises.

Lenne pouted at the guards as they ignored her. She must not be used to being ignored. Shuyin patted her arm and said, "It's been a weird night. You should go have your rest. I'll take you home."

Lenne looked at him, long and hard. "No."

"Not again, Lenne. Don't be – "

"Shuyin, my pilgrimage begins tonight. I can't go home."

Shuyin could feel his heart skipping a beat. _She's leaving... _"But you're all alone. You can't possibly think of leaving all by yourself?"

Lenne looked at him sadly. "However tonight might have ended, I still have to go. And yes, I will be going alone."

"Why?"

"Because, Shuyin... I have to."

Shuyin felt the world stop turning for him. Lenne was leaving, Bevelle was ready to charge. Zanarkand was starting to lose whatever charm it had. And the thoughts of the night when he and Lenne met started to haunt him. He was never contented with what life gave him, doing the things that he was good at and never trying to do the things he didn't know he could do because he was a coward.

And then Lenne came...   
Lenne was about to walk away when Shuyin's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her wrist. "Wait." 

She stared at him, confused. "What?"

Shuyin took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll come with you." 


	10. a sense of humor

**This chappie is for those who gave me the inspiration to continue. They really aren't a lot, but it mattered a lot to me. And I also want to thank most specially those people who gave the greatest advice any beginner fanfic writer should have: SET TO ACCEPT ANONYMOUS REVIEWS!!! Yay!!!**

**Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own FFX-2...**

Lenne was not usually very good with jokes, simply because she couldn't tell whether or not a person was kidding her or not. And what Shuyin just said was not an exception to her ignorance.

"What did you just say?" She asked as she tried to meet his blue eyes that kept on dodging her grey ones. She felt the pressure tighten on her wrist as he looked away. It was kind of cute, how shy he was. "You're coming with me?"

He nodded, or rather, he just moved is head a bit. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone. I guess I have nothing better to do here. I might as well."

Lenne tilted her head to the side and eyed him curiously. He was so mysterious. She wondered what he was thinking. "Wouldn't anyone miss you? Parents? Relatives?" she smiled slyly. "A girlfriend perhaps?"

Shuyin flushed a bright red. It was so cute! It was so easy to embarrass him when it came to girl; you just had to bring them up. "No one will miss me."

"Except for your fans, right?" She teased. Shuyin blushed even more. "Listen, if you're really willing to come with me and my pilgrimage, you're actually more than welcome. But you can't just come like that."

"Why?"

"You have to be my Guardian first."

With that, Shuyin narrowed his eyes at her. "How come?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Just because."

"What a lame trap." Shuyin withdrew his hand form hers and stuffed it in his pant pockets. "So you mean a guy who just happens to be riding the same boat with you, or probably walking the same road will have to be your Guardian first? Just because you're a Summoner?"

Lenne pouted, feeling offended. It most definitely was _not _a trap! "I never said anything like that." She couldn't read the expression in his face. He was so dead serious all the time. He needed to lighten up. "I just feel it's appropriate. You _are_ coming with me because you want to protect me. Right?"

That silenced him a bit. He was looking out to a point above her left shoulder, tapping his foot impatiently. A moment went by and he still didn't say anything. Lenne took a step towards him, making him back off half a step. "Well?"

He cleared his throat. "The truth of the matter is, I really don't know."

Lenne blinked a couple of times in disbelief. He was such a loser! "Is that all you have to say?"

Shuyin took a deep breath, closed his eyes and turned around. "Look, if you don't want me around, just say so."

"Huh?" Lenne scratched her head. "I do, it's just that I thought you're going to take up my offer..."

Shuyin rounded on her so fast it was her turn to back off half a step. "Lenne, I don't want any part in your pilgrimage!" He yelled. "I don't want to be stuck to your name for all eternity, being written in history books for everyone to talk about! I already have enough of that as it is, okay?"

Those words normally would have hurt her pride, having heard that he wanted no part in her history. But for some weird reason, she understood him. She closed her eyes and laughed softly. "I guess you're right. Wouldn't it be nice to disappear in history, your name forgotten as time goes by, and you can rest easily in the Farplane without a care in the world?" The truth was, there were times when she wished she wasn't a famous Songstress, just to escape all the gossip and idle talk about her.

"Lenne, I'm sorry." Shuyin started, looking really down. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. But can't I... can't I, uhm, let that invitation pass for now? I'll come with you, all the way to the end of your pilgrimage and back, if you'd have it, but please, no titles."

Lenne felt her lips break into a smile as she tossed her hair over one shoulder. She took a deep bow and said, "I would be honored to have you travel with me, Shuyin."

And for the very first time since they met, Shuyin genuinely smiled. It was a small and reserved smile but a smile nonetheless. She could not believe the joy it brought her to see him like that. "So," he asked quietly. "Where do we begin?"

"Huh?" Lenne started.

Shuyin stared at her. "Where do we start?"

Silence.

Lenne groaned inwardly, her face heating up. _Of course, how stupid of me! This is _my _pilgrimage. I call the shots._

It was then did she realize she really had no idea where to begin.

Shuyin coughed. "Uh, so why don't we just, uh, get some supplies? It's a long journey to the next Temple. We have to pass Mt. Gagazet and the Calm Lands."

Lenne felt foolish. Shuyin was probably the best companion for her. Never in her life had she stepped out of Zanarkand. This was going to be her first night ever...

She nodded. "I guess you're right. But can we hurry? Choras could be worried sick about me."

"Who?"

"My nanny."

"You don't want to say goodbye?"

"I really don't want to see her right now. She'll probably try to stop me, or worse, she might even come." She shuddered at the thought. She loved her nanny so much, she would just die if anything happened to her.

Shuyin looked doubtful, but nonetheless nodded. "Whatever you say, Lenne. So where to?"

Silence.

"Uh..." Lenne began, once again not knowing what to do. _So much for calling the shots._

Shuyin started to scratch his head irritably. "Fine. Come with me."

-= =-

Lenne asked Shuyin for them to make a detour by the park where she had left a duffel bag of clothes she was to change into, since she was still wearing her silver gown. When Shuyin asked her how she had that ready, she simply told him she had planned it beforehand. After all, she needed a clean getaway. After that, she let Shuyin lead the way to the cramped southern residential area in the city.

Lenne watched as Shuyin struggled with the door of one of the apartments there.

"So, this is where you live?"

"If you're asking if this is where I sleep, yeah," he muttered as he wrestled with the doorknob. He did that for maybe a couple of minutes, then gave up. Lenne was about to offer her help when she saw Shuyin bend his leg to his chest, completely balanced on one foot, then kicked the door with a bang. The knob made a loud clanging sound as it snapped wide open to admit a panting Shuyin.

"I found that very inappropriate. You're leaving town, Shuyin. Anyone can steal your stuff now that you've broken your door," Lenne said as she followed him in cautiously. The apartment was small and cramped. There was only one window fixed on the low ceiling A very unmade bed was shoved to the far wall, and a small, three-legged table was in the middle of the dirty floor. There were no carpets there. Just a layer of dust with a few footprints of large boots. Shuyin's boots. Another door was at the foot of the bed, closed. It was probably a bathroom, but judging from the state of what she was seeing now, she didn't really want to know. Next to the table was a big box that contained an assortment of things. Shuyin was kneeling next to it, taking out some stuff.

Lenne crossed the room, leaving her own marks on the dusty tiles. "What are you looking for?"

"Stuff we could use," he mumbled absentmindedly. The things he was taking out caught Lenne's attention. About a dozen Blitzball trophies were one by one placed on to the floor followed by twice as much medals. Shuyin never gave as much as a second glance to these objects.

Lenne picked one trophy that sat nearest to her, reading the embossed letters to herself. _Star Player of the Zanarkand Abes : Shuyin. _She picked up another trophy. It said the same thing. She looked up at Shuyin who was still digging into the box. "Shuyin, what are these?"

Shuyin glanced at her a second then continued with his business. "Trophies."

"Well, I kind of knew that." She examined all the trophies and medals. "All of these are awarded to you. In twelve consecutive games in five years! Shuyin! You're famous!"

With that, Shuyin stopped what he was doing and plopped down on the ground. "Yeah, well I have my share of secrets, Lady Songstress."

Lenne looked at him and frowned. "You're being chased by those girls because they really are your fans. Shuyin! If you come with me, what about your career?"

Shuyin shrugged, then pushed the box to its side, spilling the contents on to the floor, disturbing the layer of dirt on it. "My career as a player? Then it'll be over, finally."

"You mean you're not liking what you're doing in the arena?"

"Not really."

"Than why did you join in the first place."

"Does it matter? I'm leaving it, aren't I?"

Lenne placed the trophies on the floor again and sighed. "I suppose. Well, it's really none of my business."

Shuyin didn't say anything to that, but picked up a leather sack in the pile of assorted odds and ends. He peered in it and nodded satisfactorily. "Here we are."

"What is it? Let me see!" Lenne squealed excitedly. Shuyin handed her the sack. Her eyes widened in surprise. There were potions, ethers a couple of Phoenix Downs and a clump of chocobo feathers in it. "Wow! Why didn't I think of this?"

"Because it was meant to be that I do it for you," she heard Shuyin muttered. When he realized she had heard, he blushed and pretended to be busy with whatever he was doing, picking up the rest of the objects and dumping them in the box.

Lenne smiled at him as she saw him secure his belt with his broadsword. "I guess you're right." Once again, Lady Mayali's words were resounding in her head, about Shuyin being a part of her life. _A long and hard journey. This must be it._

"Here. Take this." Lenne was snapped out of her reverie when a huge blanket-like thing fell over her, covering her completely. She struggled to get it off her face. "What's this for?"

"For Mt. Gagazet weather. It's a hard path to travel in the Ronso terrain because of the snow and the wind. You won't last an hour in your clothes."

Lenne looked down at her attire. It was still the silver dress she had worn for the concert. She flushed. I guess you're right. Well, maybe I could use your bathroom first? I need to change into my traveling clothes. She slipped the duffel bag from her shoulders and started to take out her short, black skirt, a midriff blouse and a pair of sturdy brown boots.

Shuyi shook his head discouragingly. "The bathroom's no good. Heck, I wouldn't take my chances using it, but if you're really up to it, feel free."

Lenne gulped as unthinkable things entered her mind on what she could see in that dreaded room. "No thanks. I think I'll change here."

_"What?!" _Shuyin squealed loudly. "You can't change here! _I'm _here!"

Lenne shrugged nonchalantly. "So don't look." She went to the broken door and slammed it shut, making sure it won't open. She was already raising her gown up to her knees when Shuyin suddenly dashed to her, grabbing her on either arm. "Wait!"

She blinked. "What?"

She watched as Shuyin's mouth open than close like a guppy fish. He was beet red. "L-let me, uh, t-turn around first." With that, he made a one-eighty degree turn and stiffly held that position.

Lenne was amused. "Oh, well, okay." She raised her gown again to take it off. Suddenly she felt really naughty. "Hey, Shuyin?"

"W-what?" he asked quietly, still as stiff as a rock.

"I'm baring my legs now," she said, although in reality, she had already removed her gown – it was not that difficult to take off – and was now slipping into her blouse then skirt..

_"What?!"_

Lenne giggled. "Uh-huh. Now I'm about to raise it over my hips."

"Why are you relating to me how you undress?!"

"Well, since you're not looking, I might as well tell you. I've unzipped the back of my gown now, and I'm taking it off." She pulled on the strings of her blouse and tied it quickly. She pulled on her boots. "Now I'm wearing my boots. I think I'll wear my clothes later."

"What the - ! Wear them now!"

"No. Come on, Shuyin. Turn around." She straightened her skirt and pulled on her separate forearm sleeves.

"No."

"C'mon!"

Shuyin shuddered. "Lenne, stop it."

Lenne giggled. This was so much fun! Without warning, she threw her arms wide and jumped in front of him with a yell. "Gotcha!!!"

Lenne almost died from laughter as she saw his face. His blue eyes were as big as saucers, his face at one moment red, the next, white. "I was kidding, Shuyin! I'm not gonna seduce you or anything gross like that."

Shuyin snapped out of his state of shock when he discovered Lenne was, in fact, clothed. He was still pale, but resumed breathing. "That wasn't funny."

Lenne laughed anyway. "I know. It was mean. I'm sorry."

But as she turned around to gather the gown, she saw something she never did expect. She saw Shuyin grin a bit.

_So...you do have a sense of humor after all.._


	11. hot and cold

_**Disclaimer: I really don't own FFX-2**_

Shuyin pulled his cloak tighter around him as they reached the outskirts of Zanarkand. He looked beside him at a poker faced Lenne, who was gazing out into the lights of the city below, a faraway look in her eyes. It was disturbing to know that he will be traveling with her, just the two of them. In natural circumstances, it wouldn't have mattered. But Lenne was such a prankster, and it seemed like she took any possible opportunity to put him into self-conscious distress when she saw one. But now, as he watched her face contort into an unreadable expression and a tear slid down her cheek, he felt sorry for even thinking oddly of her.

He watched as the fat teardrop trickle down that smooth cheek of hers, but didn't move. He did not feel like she needed comforting, and he did not, by all means, think that it will do her any good if he let out words that would mean nothing to him at all. He was used to being alone, and so he never really did know how to empathize with her then. So all he did was look out to where she was looking and said, "Take your time. It'll be a while before we return."

She nodded gravely, as yet another tear fell down the other cheek.

Shuyin didn't understand why he felt like something warm was developing in his gut, a weird feeling. He was probably feeling sad, too, for Lenne. But she chose this path, and so she had to deal with it. For some unexplainable reason, he wondered why he cared too much. He had spent hours rationalizing to himself that the reason why he was coming was because he had nothing better to do. That had to be it... However weird he was sucked into Lenne's life.

He looked up into the sky and was relieved to see something that might make her smile again, though he once again asked himself why he should bother. "Look, Lenne. Stars."

Lenne _did _look, and she _did_ smile, but at the same time, another tear fell. Then another. And another, until he couldn't count the teardrops because they kept on coming until they formed a trail on her face. "Shuyin, what's wrong with me? The tears, why don't they stop?"

Shuyin had never been asked that question before. _Why _don't_ they stop? _He kept on looking at the stars, not wanting to look at her in her weakest state. "You would cry and cry for a million eternities and it would never be enough... when you're sad. Don't ask me why. I don't have the answer."

Lenne laughed softly. She tried to wipe away the tears. It was such a futile attempt; more tears just kept coming. "I suppose you're right. You must think I'm a crybaby, and to think we haven't even left town."

Shuyin didn't say anything. He just adjusted his cloak, shifted his sword and began to walk away, to the long road that led to Mt. Gagazet. A moment later, he heard Lenne's footsteps follow. She was not sobbing. It was weird. She was quiet when she's sad as she was noisy when happy.

_And surprisingly, however I dislike being around you when you're too perky, I'd rather have you bouncing up the walls, if it would make the tears go away._

It really didn't suit her, tears.

They reached the Summit Region of the mountain by the time the sun was rising and Lenne had so wanted to watch the sunrise, but Shuyin didn't allow her. She tried to reason with him that it would only take a moment, but remarkably, uncharacteristically, he was firm on his stand. It made her feel uncomfortably aware of her childish behavior when she asked why.

"Lenne, this is Mt. Gagazet. One wrong move and you'll see yourself either falling off one edge or being crushed by rocks on the other. That is, _if _we're lucky. Fiends are everywhere, so we'd better move as fast as these feet could carry us," Shuyin had said, not even slowing down one bit. Lenne had no choice but to follow, her eyes shifting from one dark crevice to another, her imagination running away with her, thinking of what kind of fiend could be lurking in an unseen place.

Again, she began to wonder how Shuyin knew about these things. She had thought about the same question over and over again since the Tonberry incident, when he first impressed her with his presence of mind in battle and, of course, his skills in swordplay. It was such a peculiar thing to be in the hands of a Blitzball player, and Shuyin was probably a special case when it came to that.

The wind was howling a few hours later, making Lenne feel like she would be swept up and thrown to the edge of the thousand feet drop to her left. She leaned on the wind as she tried to unsuccessfully tame her hair from whipping her face. She peered out in front of her where Shuyin was a few feet ahead. He didn't seem to mind the strong gusts of the wind coming from all directions as he continued his walk. He walked differently, Lenne had observed. Maybe it was because of the sword at his hip. It felt... _natural _on him, like another limb. And he had that out- of-place grace that could not have belonged to a man who had those muscles and long legs. She couldn't believe a man who meant nothing to her, as she meant nothing to him, could leave her thoughts in anagrams every time she would look at him.

Trying to catch up, she called out to him. "Hey." Shuyin didn't look. She called out again. "Hey!"

He looked over his shoulder in his normally indifferent manner. "What?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the wind. Lenne rushed over to his side, attaching herself to his arm. "Well, I was just wondering – just out of the blue, I guess – how come you know these things? You know, about Spira and all of that."

He merely looked at her for a split-second, then looked ahead again. "I don't get the question."

Lenne tried to rephrase it, then. "Well, it seems like you know what you're doing. Like fiends, and Mt. Gagazet, and I remember you saying the Calm Lands, too. It's really something."

Shuyin shrugged. "I'm a Blitzball player. I've been around."

It sounded the most obvious thing in the world, and Lenne felt a little foolish for not thinking about it at all, however questions still kept on bubbling to the surface she can't help but want to ask, but because the look on Shuyin's face told her he really wasn't in the mood to talk, she decided to keep it to herself. At least for now.

_There will be more opportunities for that later. After all, it's a long pilgrimage._

They trudged in silence. Lenne was beginning to hate it. Until Shuyin finally broke it.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not really. Why?"

Shuyin shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that we haven't had breakfast yet. Nor dinner."

"Huh? But I thought we're not supposed to stop."

Shuyin mumbled something she didn't quite understand.

"What?" Lenne asked.

"I said, 'if you're hungry'. We can stop if you're hungry. Or maybe if you're tired?"

This was the problem with being with someone you hardly even know. She didn't know if Shuyin was being polite, or gentlemanly or maybe he was simply looking down at her. She shook her head vigorously. "I would find it unfair for that sunrise that I **_just missed_** –ahem!- if we stopped for food."

Shuyin shot her a frustrated look. "You're still hung up on that, huh?"

_Am I ever. _"Not really."

Shuyin sighed. "That was different. This is essential. It's _food_. It'll keep us _alive _until we finish your pilgrimage. To think we've just begun."

Lenne giggled. "I guess you're right. To tell you honestly, I'm really not hungry. But since you're insisting, where do we camp?"

Shuin glared at her in disbelief at the mention that the reason why they were stopping was because _he _insisted. "Whatever. We'll be nearing the peak's mountain cave in an hour or so. We can stop there and take shelter from the wind."

"That's a welcoming thought. So, how long do we reach the other side of this mountain?"

Shuyin raised his hand to his head, knuckling his temple. He must be having a headache from the cold, or maybe from the altitude. She was feeling dizzy as it is. If it weren't for his arm she was holding on to, she may have seen herself flat on her face on the ground. Her knees were really starting to betray her. "The path gets meaner after we pass the mountain cave. There's snow on the other side, so it's good you're wearing boots."

Lenne frowned. She hated the cold, especially when her feet are. But the last thing she needed was to look even more spoiled in front of this man made of stone. _Or ice. _"Oh, well, I guess a bit of snow will do me good."

This time, the look Shuyin gave her was pure skepticism. "How will snow do you good?"

Lenne automatically felt like the biggest moron in the whole of Spira. She only said that because she wanted to make it look like she really didn't care. **_Stupid. Stupid, stupid. _**She tried not to look it, though."It's a performer's trade secret." _Whew!_

"Whatever. After the mountain cave, we'll reach the Fayth Scar."

"What's the Fayth Scar?"

"It's the side of the mountain facing south. Not as steep as this trail, but mostly covered with snow the whole year. Not as windy, but since it's a broad clearing, there're are, um, _more _dangerous, uh, _things_ up there."

"Like what?"

"Fiends."

Silence.

Lenne shivered. It was only then did she really see the danger that came along this path she wished to take. Along with the realization came the acceptance that, unfortunately, she really was weak. It scared her, this reality. That in a span of a few days, she had become utterly dependent on the person walking next to her. It was a comforting thought that someone had cared this much about her, even though he outright denies it. It was kind of hard to believe, but she blamed it all on fate. It had to be. It was too surreal, the fact that they met, and then half a week later, here they were. She couldn't help but smile. Snuggling closer to him, being much more comfortable feeling him warm at least one side of her body, she giggled. He did not hear her, or else he would have started feeling uncomfortable again.

Silently, she tried to examine his face. He had a striking profile, features that couldn't possibly have belonged to an eighteen-year-old. He looked like he was carved from stone. He didn't look like he was effected by the cold, but when she felt a slight shiver from him, it reminded her he was still, after all, human. _Just very, very unnaturally serious._

"You can stop looking at me now."

Lenne blinked, shaking herself out of her reverie. "Huh?"

"We're here."

Lenne hadn't realized it had been an hour already. _I've been staring at him for that long. And he knew it. Dammit! _She felt herself blushing and hoping it will pass up that she did because of the weather. Diverting her attention from him, she looked ahead and gulped. There, staring menacingly back at her, was the mouth of a cave. It was dark and very creepy-looking from her point of view.

Shuyin must have sensed her fear and squeezed her shoulder. "It's not as bad as you think. It's actually kind of pretty inside that cave."

Lenne nodded, still doubtful, but she let herself be led into that cave. She felt the temperature drop suddenly, and she could see her breath freeze up in front of her face. It was dark and she couldn't see where she was going. Something caught her foot, and she squealed in panic as she felt herself lose her footing.

Shuyin held her tightly around the waist before she ended up on the floor. "I have you. Don't worry." He felt his eyes adjust to the darkness as quickly as would a cat. That was one of the great things he took pride in; he could pretty much see in the dark. Making sure Lenne had her balance back, he let go of her waist and settled for her hand. "Follow me. I won't let you trip."

He could see her nod her head uncertainly, and followed. There, in the dark, where he knew she can't see him, he stared at her. She looked like a little kid, wrapped in that cloak that appeared too big for her. She was breathing heavily, and her breath smoked in front of her. When she almost stumbled again, her grip tightened and she cried out softly.

"Don't worry, I have you. Just a little more. We're almost there." He gazed down at her as they reached a part where the path broke into two. We're taking the right path. It's the long route."

She gulped. He could see her forehead crinkling in confusion. "I don't know, Shuyin. Why don't we take the shorter? It's really creepy in here..."

Shuyin shook his head, although he knew his actions were really useless here in the dark. "I just thought that maybe you'd like to go through this path. I'd like to show you something."

"Wha...?"

"You'll love it. It's kind of a waste if you don't see it. It's not everyday you'd be passing this way." Shuyin guided a reluctant Lenne, and she let herself be led, however unsure she was. Her doubts were completely dissipated when she saw what he meant. He watched as her grey eyes widen in awe at the glowing stalactites and stalagmites growing out of the side of the path, casting an ethereal sense in the place. The light illuminated the path like exotic lanterns. Shuyin had seen it many times before, when the team would be going to a tournament in Luca, but it still overwhelmed him, seeing it again now.

"Oh, my... How pretty!" Lenne breathed, her voice sounding loud as it echoed in the cave, bouncing back and forth and resounding over and over until it faded. "Shuyin, how wonderful..."

Shuyin looked away, now that he knew she could see her. He felt guilty, just a bit, for having stolen looks from her when she wasn't aware. A voice in his head told him to set it aside. _Must... not... stare...! _"Yeah, I know what you mean. I could never get tired of looking at you.– **_it_**! I meant _it_!"

_**STUPID!**_

She must not have noticed. She just nodded as if in a trance. "Can't we camp here for our meal?"

_Breathe! Dammit!!! _"Sure, Lenne. Let's make a fire. It's really cold in here." He took out a box of matches and made is way down the path and looked over his shoulder, a gesture that asked her to follow. She did, and as she did, he immediately diverted his eyes away. He knew she wouldn't notice since she was busy looking around, once in a while squatting in a corner to touch a stalagmite. But he was feeling a little uncomfortable by the mere fact of letting his eyes graze her body. She was beautiful. That was the only word he could use to describe her. And he didn't feel happy to know he was thinking of her that way.

Trying to busy himself with the fire, she knelt by a place dry enough to start one. He was doing a pretty good job with it until Lenne knelt by him. He didn't know what in Spira she was thinking, but she had been cuddling next to him since they reached the halfway point in Mt. Gagazet. It was driving him nuts. He hated close contact, not because he hated it in the general sense of things, but because he didn't know how to react to it. So far, he had been going well with just ignoring it and pretending not to care. But it must be these _damn_ glowing things! His _I'm-a-rock-don't-talk-to-me _technique was failing him miserably.

"Shuyin, can't we skip the fire?" Lenne asked. Shuyin looked at her as if whacked.

"Lenne, you're shivering in your boots. We need a fire." He plopped down on the floor in the most comfortable position he could find and tried to light a match. But before he could, Lenne sat down close – _too close_ - to him and wrapped her slender fingers around his hand. Damn, she was cold!

"If we light a fire, then we won't be able to see the stalactites and stalagmites."

Shuyin froze in mid-stride, then after a moment of thinking how impractical it was to overlook the necessity of warmth, he gave in. He sighed and stuffed the match in his pocket. He crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to heat himself, rubbing his arms briskly. Lenne sighed and edged even closer to him, prying one of his arms from his self-embrace and slipping next to him comfortably. Shuyin didn't even have a chance to react. She was already snuggled comfortably against him and contentedly staring up at the cave wall.

Shuyin knew he was nervous, and his heart could probably be heard a mile away. But for once in his life, he was grateful to have someone's body sharing her heat with him. It was seldom anyone wanted to share _anything_ with him. He was stiffly trying not to shift, afraid that Lenne might get uncomfortable, or worse yet, pull away. He just didn't want to admit it, but in his heart of hearts, he was thankful that in this cave where everything was cold, like him, he had someone warm to keep him company.

_Author's note: Thanks for the reviews guys. I won't be able to update this story anytime this week, coz I reall am feeling a little down on myself right now. So Lenne and Shuyin will just have to stay in that cave until then... Please review my last chapter for now, and tell me if it's any good... _

_Yuugiri: Darned it all.! I'm so pathetic!_

_Yuugiri: Damn right, you are. snickers menacingly_


	12. A Foretelling

**_Hello!!! I have finally overcome my writer's block!!! Yay!!! So Lenne and Shuyin may be able to leave that Yevon-forsaken cave. =)_**

**_Thanks for the reviews, guys. _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own ffx2._**

He didn't know what was wrong with him. Not once had this thought crosses his mind, making his already confused self more confused every time he would let his reverie wander into the facts that he had left Zanarkand, his home, for a perfectly spoiled stranger who couldn't even stop putting him on the spot, either getting to close to his personal barrier, or too cruel as to make him feel like a complete dork.

And yet, he felt as if someone else had been taking over his body; going to a concert, actually volunteering to go with her throughout her pilgrimage. Where had all these come from anyway? It was, without a doubt, out of his character. Yet he still couldn't figure it out. What was it with her that made him so... not him?

These thoughts whirled into his head as he crouched stealthily behind a huge boulder enough only to peek over it, his broadsword at hand, tension building in the joints of his knees and in his shoulder blades. It was probably because of the cold. He tried not to breathe, as the littlest sound was magnified twice as loud as loud in that cave than it normally should. He needed to be as quiet as possible. Confrontations were better avoided if possible, especially when they didn't have the upper hand, and right now, as Shuyin peered from behind the boulder, he knew he was definitely the underdog here.

His eyes bulged as the eight-foot Ronso male noisily grunted as he bent over to gather something from the cave floor. He was apparently picking up wild mushrooms that could only be found in Mt. Gagazet caves. Shuyin felt a drop of sweat trickle down his back from inside his shirt. He shivered as he felt that single drop freeze his spine. The very gesture and habit of eating Mt. Gagazet mushrooms made him sick. He couldn't be wrong with his hunch. It was definitely _him_.

Shuyin quietly retreated from the face of the rock , making not one bit of sound no mouse could have avoided. No, the Ronso must not see him. Especially not by _this_ particular Ronso. Sure, these people weren't really known to be that sociable but that was not what made Shuyin wish the ground would swallow him alive. He really had to –

_**SNAP! **_

Shuyin's blood froze, and this time it had nothing to do with the biting cold. He swallowed hard as he realized he had stepped on a brittle branch while he was making his inaudible retreat.

I'm so dead... 

And as if on cue, the cave exploded with a loud roar that was unmistakably from _him_. The cave walls shook, bits of dust and rock falling from the ceiling. "_WHO THERE?_!!?"

Shit! Shuyin was on his hands and knees and was about to crawl away when a gigantic iron vise grabbed him by the back of the collar and within seconds, the ground disappeared from beneath him and he was staring down at two cat-like green eyes. 

He was definitely dead. He sighed in resignation and said the only thing that popped in his head at that moment. "Hello, Xarinne."

At this, the enormous Ronso grinned, flashing him with a very sharp, very white row of teeth. "Xarinne knew it was you, Shuyin. Shuyin always play hide-and-seek with Xarinne."

The reason why Shuyin was "playing hide-and-seek" happened next. Scooping him up in his huge bulky arms with a happy purr, Xarinne crushed Shuyin to his white, furry chest, deflating is lungs of oxygen, fogging the front of his face with cold smoke.

In all honesty, Xarinne was a fine fellow. They had known each other for five years already, ever since he had started playing Blitzball. Xarinne was in the Ronso Blitzball team, the Ronso Fangs. It was actually a weird acquaintance. Their first words had actually been... sweet.

"_You in Xarinne way, human." _

"_Let me pretend I care."_

A few kicks and punches followed after. Shuyin had actually forgotten how the fight had ended, but he could never forget how they became friends. Yes, it was only then, with the Ronso hugging him as if to kill him with affection, did he remember that he did, in fact, have a friend after all.

It was Blitzball Season two years after their first encounter, and naturally they weren't in speaking terms. A broken rib for Shuyin and a chipped horn for Xarinne made sure of that. But since Zanrakand had been trying to diplomatically get along with everyone else, they had offered the Ronso Fangs to take ship in Zanarkand to Luca with the Abes. The biggest boat in the city was offered, but with ten Ronso lumbering about on deck, there was hardly any personal space left for anyone, so they were kind of forced to mingle with each other. Shuyin had planted himself to the stern of the ship, and really didn't know what happened next. All he heard was a bit of cursing and a moment later, the Zanarkand Abes were all either in the water or plunging towards it. He kind of saw that coming. These had been opposing teams, after all, so it didn't turn out to be the diplomacy they were looking for.

He really didn't know what had caused the Ronso to throw his team mates overboard, and honestly he didn't care. He had simply sat there on the floor of the deck, watching in amusement as the Ronso howled their victory cheer. Xarinne had approached him then, casting a shadow where he sat. "What about you? No make fun of Ronso?"

Shuyin simply stared up at him, not the least bit intimidated by his size. "I have better things to do than make fun of you. So if you're thinking of throwing me in with them, I suggest you think again. You see, I'd rather sleep really." With that, he rolled on his side, back turned to Xarinne, who, after a moment, laughed.

And that was that. Later in the year did he realize that Xarinne probably the only Ronso who had acquired all the social skills that lacked his kin.

"Xarinne!" Shuyin gasped. "L-let me go... I can't breathe..."

"Shuyin!" he heard a squeal from somewhere to his right. Trying to ignore the pressure, he turned his head in time to see a panic-stricken Lenne carrying a piece of branch so small it couldn't have scared a moogle in a birthday suit. "I heard a roar, and then you didn't come back, and I got scared and worried. Is something the matter that - "

The words froze in her throat at the sight of Shuyin in the custody of a monstrous beast. It must have been a scary sight, and Shuyin kind of expected her to run away screaming, but instead, he saw something on her face that he had never seen before. Anger.

_Oh, no._

"Let him go!" She shouted, her melodious voice for once sounding harsh and stern, magnified by the acoustics in the cave. Tossing the branch aside, and producing something that resembled a wireless microphone from the bulky bag at her hip, Lnne took a determined step forward.

What in Spira is she gonna pull? 

After a few moments of contemplation, it dawned to him. An image of three dozen girls sleeping on the cold cement flashed before his eyes. Trying to struggle free from the Ronso's greeting, he called out. "Lenne, no..." but his voice was so feeble and weak because of the choking embrace.

If Lenne was going to offend Xarinne in any way, it was not going to be a pretty sight...

Xarinne glanced from Shuyin to Lenne, a curious look in his eyes. "Oh? Friend Shuyin finally have mate! Mmmmm, a pretty human female."

Shuyin coughed, suffocated. "Xarinne, let me go... Hurry! Before - "

It's too late. Lenne waved her hands in front of her and the next followed a complicated jig and a moment later, Shuyin fell to the ground with a thud as Xarinne's hands flew to his face, screaming. "Xarinne... can't... see...!"

Shuyin scrambled to his feet, uncharacteristically uncertain on what to do next. If he didn't stop Lenne from doing whatever she was doing to the Ronso, then his friend would be get madder and madder even more as each second passed. But, if he did tell Lenne to stop, Xarinne would surely be mad anyway, and Lenne would be getting it good.

He decided the two of the lesser evils.

"Shuyin! Run! I'll take care of it!" Lenne said bravely. It made Shuyin nauseous.

"Lenne! Can't you tell a _Ronso_ from a _fiend_??? Stop it! He's my friend!"

It sounded odd to his ears, that phrase. But it seemed to hit home for Lenne. She immediately stopped dancing and Xarinne stopped squirming on the floor, blinking uneasily. He heard Lenne swallow hard. "A Ronso...? Your friend..." her cheeks reddened and she tried to hide her face in her too-big cloak.

Shuyin got to his feet and shivered. _What did she do? _He motioned for Lenne to come to him and she nodded, but still looked doubtfully at the Ronso who was now also eyeing her suspiciously, a growl bubbling in his throat.

Shuyin immediately pulled Lenne behind him when Xarinne bared his teeth the moment she got closer, meaning to show how displeased and upset he was at her for doing... whatever she just did to him. Shuyin cleared his throat nervously. "Forgive her. She's very naïve. It wasn't intended, she really means no harm."

Xarinne, however, didn't seem like he's buying the excuse. He exhaled sharply through his nostrils, and his breath froze in a cloud of white smoke. "You intend harm to Xarinne. You... will... pay...!" He growled again.

Lenne yelped like a little moomba and quivered from behind Shuyin.

Shuyin groaned inwardly. This is great. This is wonderful. They haven't even reached half of their journey, and already a death threat for Lenne. He rubbed his nose bridge with his thumb and forefinger in an attempt to ease the headache that was starting to take over whatever sanity he had left in his head. Xarinne seemed to read his body language, and stopped the growl, straightening in his whole eight feet, his head almost brushing the ceiling.

"Don't worry, friend Shuyin. Xarinne not murderer. Xarinne will not kill Shuyin's mate. Shuyin is Xarinne's friend. Xarinne want to see Shuyin's young ones one day."

Shuyin felt Lenne relax a bit and, after registering quite slowly in her mind that the "monster" just called her his mate, she stiffened again, suddenly popping out her head from behind him. "Hey! Shuyin is not my - "

"Quiet, wife," Shuyin snapped. If the belief that she was his "mate" would give him the security that Xarinne will not end up bloody massacring Lenne when he wasn't looking, then so be it. Lenne looked at him, outraged, but he just gave her a meaningful look, as if to say, _"We'll talk later."_

She closed her mouth witha snap and nodded. "Fine, Shuyin. But you know I didn't really know that - "

"Whatever, Lenne. Whatever."

ï© -=- ï© -=- ï© -=- ï©

Lenne pressed closer to Shuyin's arm when he realized Xarinne Ronso was staring at her menacingly. Sheesh! How was she to know that he was a _Ronso_? She had never seen one in her life! She can't recall having a Ronso buy one of her tickets then and so she was staring to rationalize that she had every right to make that mistake.

Anyone could have made such a misconception! 

But she knew that she was probably the only one who could have been that careless. Of course it couldn't possibly have been a fiend! Had it been one, Shuyin would have finished it off before it got a chance to say boo. But since the Lady Songstress was _naïve_, she had to miss that big detail. She could have just stayed calm. But _nooo. _Not her. She freaks in front of a harmless Ronso, who, she learned later on form Shuyin, take much pride in their species, being nothing like the harmless Ronso that they are, and would trample anyone who tainted that pride.

_And that's ANYONE, Lenne. ANYONE. Even you, _Shuyin had stressed, completely crushing her. They haven't even reached one fifth of their journey, and she had caused him enough trouble already.

She sighed sadly. So much for being a Summoner. So much for wanting to protect people. So much for thinking that she and Shuyin could get along. She was such a loser.

Shuyin and Xarinne were talking about something that left her a little out of place, and she hated being in that position. She remembered having to sit silently between her nanny and her friends while they talked, back when she was nine. And now, she was eighteen between two people who probably were as old as she was, yet feeling a decade younger.

Her fears were officially confirmed that time. She _was _immature. Shuyin really was feeling sorry for her. He knew she could not survive three minutes by herself outside Zanarkand. And there she was, blinding probably Shuyin's only friend in the world!

_What was I thinking?! I'll tell you what I was thinking. Nothing!! I wasn't thinking at all!!!_

"You're awfully quiet," Shuyin murmured, nudging her a bit, sending her back to the present situation.

"Huh?" Lenne asked, uncertainly peering up at him, then looking away. Feeling suddenly self-conscious for she was leaning against him in an attempt to stay warm in that cold, cold cave, she pulled away and slouched in her place, making sure she didn't touch him at all. She looked at him from under her lashes again.

Shuyin blinked in confusion, something going on behind his strikingly blue eyes reflecting the fire; they had made a fire now, and fat mushrooms were roasting openly over it. A part of her felt like he was asking why she pulled away, but decided against it. Shuyin was not capable of that feeling. He would not care. And right now, she even started to doubt that he even felt _anything _at all. She discarded the idea the moment she thought about it, deciding that she was being a little unfair. It was her pride. She made a complete fool of herself back there, and it made her feel a little bad that neither the Blitzball player not the Ronso were talking about it. She felt like they were silently mocking her.

Shuyin reached out and plucked a smoking mushroom from the fire, examined it a moment then pushed it under her nose. It smelled... odd. "Eat. It's really not that good. But it's warm. Trust me, this cold is nothing compared to what's waiting for us outside the other side of the mountain."

Lenne stared at the mushroom. It was about the size of her fist, completely black from the fire. It didn't look appetizing, but since she knew that if she didn't eat it, it would make her look even more spoiled so she took it in both hands and bit it quickly. Her eyes rolled back as the juices of the mushroom squirted in her mouth. It was nothing she had every tasted before. It was like a party in her mouth... and everyone was throwing up. It tasted like... like it wasn't food at all! She felt like gagging, but she told herself to hold it in. Chewing quickly, then swallowing, she finished the whole mushroom in seconds. She patted herself on the back for having eaten such a gross thing, and she didn't even throw up!

Her face fell when Shuyin handed her another, remarking that she was hungrier than he thought. With a heavy heart, she ate it again, thought her stomach was telling her that if she ate any more, she would end up embarrassing herself in front of these two, as if she hasn't done that enough already.

The mushroom disappeared in her hands, and the moment it did, she scuttled away to the far wall of the cave before Shuyin could hand her another. "I think I'll take a nap for now."

Shuyin tilted his head to the right and nodded. "All right. That would be better. We'll be moving out in an hour or so. So don't get mad at me when I wake you up then."

Lenne nodded, gathering the cloak around her so that no bare skin was exposed in the cold. "All right." She quickly lied down when she saw the Ronso glare at her with narrowed eyes. It didn't take long before she fell asleep. The last thing she caught before she lost consciousness was the cold, hard floor and Shuyin and Xarinne talking about where Shuyin had met his "mate".

ï© -=- ï© -=- ï© -=- ï©

_Lenne found herself in the most horrifying place she had ever been in. The long, dark corridor she was in and the floor that was littered with curious-looking lumps caught her eye. She squinted, trying to make out what those odd shapes where. She didn't exactly know why, but her heart was in her throat and she was fighting the urge to cry out. _

_She gave up in trying to decipher the lumps on the floor, deciding that maybe she'd be able to find some way to get out of there. Twisting around in her heel, she felt stinging sensation on her left leg. Her hands flew to it and gasped as her fingers brushed something cold and sticky. _

_Holy, she was bleeding!_

_The mere fact that she was sliced in open made her nauseous. What was going on? Why was she in this place? What in Yevon's name were those things on the floor?_

_As if out of instinct, she felt her other hand raise in front of her and her lips opened up to speak firmly. "Fira!"_

_And one of the many extinguished torches sticking out of the walls of the hall blazed into life. She couldn't even remember learning that spell, although she felt like she had known it forever. The feeling would have amused her, but now in the light, the lumps on the floor were revealed to her._

_They were dismembered bodies of soldiers. _Bevelle_ soldiers. Many of them were missing an arm or a leg, but majority of them didn't have heads._

_Lenne's stomach churned violently, threatening to throw up whatever was inside her, but she held it in. She didn't know how in Spira she did it; she was usually very squeamish but something inside her told her to suck it in. She told herself to look away, but her eyes traitorously wandered to the headless bodies, whose heads were located about a few feet from the corpses. Somehow, Lenne knew that these men were hacked with a sword._

_A _broadsword

_She felt sick. She didn't know what came into her then, when her legs started to carry her away down the hall in a dead run. _

_She didn't even know she could run that fast. All that she knew was that she just did. Her long hair trailed behind her, all snagged and annoyingly dry, but she didn't care. She had lost all vanity, though she couldn't remember how and when she did so. _

_She just needed to reach the end of that hall..._

"_Shuyin," she rasped, not recognizing her own voice. "Please, Shuyin. Don't do it."_

Do what?

_Her feet were starting to get heavy with every step, but she had to get there. She had to stop him._

_Lenne started to feel confused. _What's going on? _She realized that her body was starting to move on its own and she – her consciousness – was merely a passenger. _

Where am I going?

_She saw the end of the hall open up into a dark, broad room, its ceiling extending forever into the shadows. Her consciousness tried to look around but her body was forced to look at the monstrosity of a machina sitting in the middle of the room, humming noisily and quivering in a manner that looked like it was going to explode any second. It looked too... detailed to be an ordinary machina... It looked more like an animal, a freak of nature that looked like a hybrid between a mammoth and a machine. And there, on top of this beast, in the cockpit, sat Shuyin!_

What the... ?

_Her body staggered forward, both arms outstretched on either side to catch his attention. "Shuyin, no! You have to stop this!!!"_

_At the sound of her voice, Shuyin jumped a little and turned around to face her. _

_Lenne's consciousness gasped in disbelief at what she saw. His blond hair was matted with dark red blood, like it had hardened there, and a lot more of it was trickling down the side of his face in a disturbingly large amount. His eyes were wild and unfocused, but as he saw her, his features softened._

"_Lenne..." he said hoarsely over the humming of the huge machine._

"_Don't do this, Shuyin. Come here," her body pleaded, and her consciousness pleaded with it._

"_**HALT!!!**"_

_Lenne gasped and turned around just in time to see no less than a dozen red-uniformed soldiers pouring into the room, bladed guns at hand, poised to shoot._

_Oh, no._

Lenne. Run.

_And her body did. She ran to Shuyin, who had leapt out of the machina cockpit the moment the men came trudging in. _

_Lenne's heart ached as she saw him hurry to her. He looked so tired... he was limping and was holding one arm painfully, but his eyes, those blue orbs, were intent on her as she moved to him._

He's so beautiful...

_She rushed into his arms with a cry and embraced him softly, afraid that he might hurt him in any way in his state. She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart. It was beating fast. He must be having a hard time breathing... His arms wrapped around her protectively. "Lenne... you shouldn't be here."_

_Lenne shook her head meekly. "You're here. Why shouldn't I be here with you?"_

What's going on?

_Shuyn buried his face into her hair and he felt his warm breath on her neck. "You foolish, foolish girl. You never listen to me."_

What's happening?

_Lenne beat at his chest hard. "_You _never listen to _me_. I told you to stay in Zanarkand."_

"_I couldn't let you die..."_

What???!?!

"_I will not die."_

"_Liar."_

_Shuyin pulled away from her with a pained effort. Lenne shivered at the look of crazed anger in his eyes as he looked at the soldiers still running into position. But when he shifted his gaze to her, his eyes looked like they were gazing down at a child. _

_Lenne met his gaze, searching his face, memorizing every detail..._

..._The soldiers knelt into position..._

_How his lips curled a bit when he grinned sadly..._

..._They aimed their guns at them..._

How his forehead crinkled when he frowned... 

..._They pulled the trigger..._

_How his unruly hair fell over his right eye..._

... _the guns roared..._

_How his nose twitched when he tried to hold back tears..._

_Lenne searched his every detail, finding herself holding back her own tears. _

No...

_And with that, Lenne smiled, a painful smile but a smile nonetheless. She wanted him to remember her that way._

"_I love you," Shuyin whispered softly._

_And with that, the bullets lodged themselves into human flesh. Lenne felt one hit her shoulder, then another right through the heart. The impact sent her reeling backward. Next to her, Shuyin ricocheted and landed with a thud, sprawled on the cold metal floor, his cheek pressed flat on the tiles. Lenne landed on her back. She didn't feel the impact of her body to the floor. She was starting to feel numb._

So this is how it feels to die...

_She felt her consciousness floating out of her body. The two bodies were a frightening sight...yet she couldn't look away. She saw Shuyin try to reach out to her dying self. Lenne remained stiff and unmoving, except for a single tear that fell from her staring eyes. _

No... This can't be... What's happening?! This isn't real! No! No! NO!

_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**_

ï© -=- ï© -=- ï© -=- ï©

"Nooooooooooooo!" Lenne screamed uncontrollably, and her body was suddenly shaking like an epileptics'. Shuyin grabbed her on both arms, trying hard to keep her steady. Yevon, what was happening?

"Lenne, wake up!" He shouted over her shrieks. Holy, she was ice cold. She had started screaming after being asleep for half an hour now. It had broken the silence between him and Xarinne. She just started thrashing like she was being electrocuted. Shuyin didn't know the least thing he could do to make her step out of the nightmare she was obviously having. He had never felt this helpless in his life.

Xarinne was standing behind him, looking quite nervous and helpless himself. "What is wrong?"

"I don't know." Shuyin gathered her in one arm and used his free hand to slap her cheek roughly. It did the trick. Lenne stopped screaming and, panting and out of breath, she opened her eyes. Her pupils were dilated in horror, a few tears escaping out the side of her eyes. She had broken a sweat and was now shivering violently. She has staring at him wildly.

"Are you okay, Lenne?" he demanded, searching her face.

Lenne didn't respond. She was still breathing hard. The next thing she did was every bit as surprising as her outburst. She started to sob, then she threw her arms around his neck roughly, causing him to sit back on his behind with a thud, crying, "Shuyin! Don't die! Please don't die! Don't leave me! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!"

"What the - ? Lenne? What's going on? I'm not dying," he whispered, awkwardly trying to push her away. "Hey, come on." He looked around uncomfortably, pleading with Xarinne to help him with her, but the ronso just stared with pity at the girl he had wanted to kill earlier. Shuyin hesitated a bit, then wrapped his arms around her, returning her embrace. "Shhh... I'm not gonna die. I won't leave you. I won't leave you."

Lenne continued to sob, burying her face to his neck. Yevon, she was delirious!

What did you see, Lenne? What did you dream about? 

Wordlessly, he cradled her in his arms, rocking her back and forth like a frightened child, wooing her softly until she calmed down a bit.

It was crazy. Here they were, in the middle of the cave, in each other's arms, with a Ronso as an audience. He had never thought, even in his wildest dreams that he would be caught in such a predicament.

But then again, this was Lenne...

Anything could happen, with her around.

Shuyin sighed. _What in Spira did you dream of, Lenne?_


	13. The Summoner's Pride

**_Author's note: I don't own FFX2 or Lenne and Shuyin. However I added a few of my own characters because it's awfully dull without other people to interact with. Please bear with me. , _**

_**And thanks for the reviews. ,**_

He felt his booted feet sink into the white, knee-deep snow. Right now, in the freezing wind, his face was starting to feel numb. He couldn't even tell if his nose was running. And since both of his hands were occupied, he won't even be able to check.

He and Xarinne had been traveling for over two hours and had just reached Fayth Scar. Lenne had refused to move from her spot ever since that "bad dream" in the mountain cave, and Shuyin had to carry her on his back. Not that she was that heavy; he hardly even noticed she was there. She was just riding piggyback, her arms loosely around his neck, face buried behind his head, once in a while murmuring a few incoherent words, then would lapse into silence.

He could feel Xarinne eyeing him in the corner of his green eyes. It made him uncomfortable, that stare. He hated it when he didn't understand what those looks meant. He hated it when people stare at him. Shifting under the Ronso's gaze, he adjusted his hold on Lenne's legs and sighed. His feet were starting to freeze in his boots, and he had a terrible feeling that his nose really was running.

The Ronso diverted his eyes from him and directed it to the sky. "Xarinne sense it will snow very soon. Clouds are low. It will be heavy snow."

This was just great. Shuyin was really starting to think this trip was cursed from the very beginning. "Then we'd better hurry."

"No truer words have ever passed Shuyin's lips. It is dangerous in Fayth Scar when it snows."

Shuyin didn't like the sound of that. "Why?"

"Fiends appear."

That was wonderful. Just wonderful. He felt Lenne stiffen against his back. So she was awake after all. He tried to change the subject. "So, Xarinne. What were you doing in that cave?"

"Xarinne was preparing to leave home," the Ronso responded quickly, this time he too was becoming uncomfortable.

Shuyin found his eyebrows climbing up his already unfeeling forehead. "You're running away from home?"

Xarinne's shook his head. "No."

"Huh?"

Xarinne fiddled with his chipped horn. It was a habit he had gotten used to when he wanted to avoid a conversation. "I am sorry, friend Shuyin, but Ronso problem should be dealt with Ronso. Xarinne cannot tell."

Shuyin didn't argue. He really wasn't interested. He just wanted to make some petty conversation to divert Lenne's thoughts from the fiends that might appear when the snow falls. _Let Ronso deal with Ronso problems, huh?_

It was a Ronso problem, until Xarinne made it his.

"Xarinne wish to come with Shuyin in his journey."

Shuyin laughed grimly. "You want to come along?"

"Xarinne does not know where Shuyin will go, and Xarinne will not ask until Shuyin wishes to tell Xarinne. But Spira is rough, and might need a friend to help when in trouble. Xarinne could be that friend." The Ronso turned to him and grinned. It seemed like he had already decided that he would come, whether Shuyin allowed it or not. So he decided it was a waste of energy to talk his stubborn hide out of it.

Besides, another companion was more than welcome. The presence of Xarinne might actually tame Lenne's perky nature, however tame she was right then. However, before anything, Shuyin did want his Ronso friend to know the very nature of their journey.

"You know, I would love to have you along, Xarinne, but to tell you honestly, it really isn't for me to decide. You see, I'm only tagging along with Lenne here," he said, cocking his head as a gesture to the girl riding on his back. Again, he adjusted his hold on her to free his left hand and used it to fix the cloak he had thrown over her.

"It's cold," Lenne murmured, tightening her embrace around his neck.

Shuyin sighed. "Yeah. It is." He looked up into the sky as he felt something cold touch the tip of his nose. Feather-like snow started to rain down on them. The clouds suddenly became frighteningly low and dark, then his imagination began to run away with him, his eyes darting from one corner of the road to another, afraid a fiend might pop out of nowhere and ambush them.

"Fayth scar is a dangerous place to be when it snows. Many fiends hear love snow," Xarinne said in a low, very disturbing voice. He saw the Ronso unconsciously sliding his pike from the belt on his back, his huge paws gripping the weapon warily.

It was then did he see the disadvantage of his situation, as Lenne was riding on him and his sword was not very accessible to him at the moment. If a fiend decided to pounce on them now, he wouldn't know what to do.

As if with an unknown awareness of Shuyin's fear, Xarinne fell behind, walking a few feet away from them, obviously out to guard their back.

Their path was awfully deserted. Shuyin felt the hair at the back of his neck stand up. He really did not have a good feeling about this.

He looked over his shoulder, seeing Lenne's half-open gray eyes staring straight ahead. "Lenne, can you walk?"

The Songstress' eyes moved to stare at him, and after a moment nodded lazily.

"Good girl." Shuyin knelt on one knee and Let Lenne off with a grunt. His back, now exposed to the cold, made him shiver a bit. He turned to her, holding her on either arm. "Stay close to me. It's dangerous here, so don't wander off."

Shuyin was surprised to see her glaring at him reproachfully, but she nodded after a while, mumbling something under her breath that he didn't quite catch. Unsheathing his broadsword, he took Lenne by the hand with his free one and continued with their lazy walk through that thick blanket of white.

Cautiously, Shuyin trudged on with silence, Lenne right behind him, then Xarinne. That was their little procession for almost half an hour, but still no fiends were coming. Not that he was looking forward to it, though. He never let his guard down, and neither did Xarinne. Lenne didn't seem to care.

Everything seemed to be unfolding pretty well, until...

Shuyin and Xarinne stopped in their tracks at the same time, both men shooting daggers at everything. Lenne gave away nothing. When Shuyin stopped walking, she stopped too. When he didn't start walking again, she slowly sank on her heels in a squat and wrapped her arms around her, gazing solemnly at the trampled snow on the ground, once in a while gazing at Shuyin, then back at the ground.

If it weren't for the current situation, Shuyin would have been worried. Lenne looked as is she had succumbed into a trance.

"I heard something. Did you?" Shuyin asked his Ronso friend, never letting his eyes stay in one place.

Xarinne nodded, a growl bubbling in his throat.

Then he heard it again. Padded feet walking in snow. Three to four sets of padded feet...

"Shuyin, be wary. White Fangs come," the Ronso said, setting his feet apart in anticipation, holding his pike in front of him warily.

In silence, they waited, each setting himself on either side of Lenne, making sure the unaware Summoner was protected.

And moments later, around the bend, surely enough, emerged four dirty, mangy lupine fiends, about four feet tall from the shoulders, paws as big as Xarinne's. At the sight of the three in the middle of the road, the White Fangs started to lick their paws in anticipation. It was seldom that fresh meat wandered to their territory.

In a split second, the fiends were circling around them, their tongues lolling out as if to show they really mean business, tails swishing excitedly. It was a smorgasbord for them tonight.

"Xarinne," Shuyin hissed, edging closely to the nearest fiend. "Protect Lenne."

The Ronso stared at him with wide-eyed confusion. "Shuyin?"

"If both of us charge, Lenne will be defenseless. Can I trust you to keep her safe?" Why in all occasions did Lenne have to be stunned?

Xarinne hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. He was not comfortable with Shuyin dealing with four White Fangs by himself, but he knew the Blitzball player was right. "Xarinne will protect Lenne with life."

Shuyin nodded. "On three, then. One..."

Xarinne edged closer to Lenne, his fur bristling in preparation.

"Two..."

Shuyin gritted his teeth as adrenaline pumped though his veins.

"Three!"

As if on cue, the White Fangs attacked as they did. Two bulleted to Shuyin, another to Xarinne while the other circled around from behind the party. Shuyin, being too preoccupied with two, completely lost track of what was happening to the others. One White Fang leaped into the air and growled as it lunged at his shoulder, while the other clawed from behind.

He raised his broadsword just in time to slice away the first fiend's frontal attack, but felt hot pain sear through his arm as the one attacking from behind successfully clawed him, causing him to stagger to the side.

Keeping to his feet, he ignored the blood that started to trickle down his left arm. The pain was throbbing through his body. He watched as the fiend he had knocked down try to rise, but erupted into a shower of pyreflies before it did. The White Fang that had succeeded in wounding him was now looming a few feet from him, baring its sharp, yellow teeth at him in an unmistakable smile.

In the corner of his eyes he saw another burst of pyreflies as Xarinne had beaten the Lupine-type fiend that had asked for it from him.

Adjusting his grip on his sword, he wiped his ironically sweaty palms on the side of his pants. He watched as the over-eager fiend attack again. This time, he didn't even try to move. He just waited for the fiend and dodged it, making a smooth duck to his right and struck home with his weapon, and again an eruption of pyreflies.

His mind began to count. _Three down. Where the heck is the other one?_

He turned around to search for the missing fiend only to discover the enemy had already pounced and it was too late for him to react. In one moment, he was standing, the next he was on the snow, his sword knocked away somewhere, pinned down by the heavy White Fang. The fiend's breath stank as it lowered its snout to his neck.

"No!" he heard Lenne's musical voice sound over the growling of the fiend.

The next thing he knew was the temperature suddenly rising, then the snow around him was melting in a dramatically fast pace. He felt the White Fang's sudden uncertainty and he saw it turn its head away to see what was happening. He took the advantage to see for himself, too.

Lenne had gotten up to her feet and had her arms spread wide as a huge flame bird hovered a few feet above her.

_The Aeon..._

He saw the snow melt around Lenne, too. And since he was down on the ground, the water that was once snow soaked his clothes and made him start to shiver instantly. The heavy fiend was still on top of him, stunned at Lenne's magnificent Phoenix. The next thing that happened almost made him pee in his pants.

With a loud screech, the Phoenix swooped down towards him and the fiend, sending an overwhelmingly warm gust of wind. It brought a little pleasure, that warmth, until it became too hot as the Aeon charged at the fiend, missing him by inches. The White Fang was thrown off him in moments, showering him with pyreflies even before it landed on the ground. The warmth the Phoenix emitted left when the Aeon flew into the skies where it disappeared into a red sparkle, then faded.

Shuyin gingerly pushed himself up on shaking arms. Dammit! His clothes were turning him into a human Popsicle!

He saw Lenne rushing to him, worry making her smooth face crinkle up. "Are you all right?"

Shuyin wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing vigorously, teeth chattering so badly, he was having a hard time talking. "Y-yeah. S-sure. Except for the f-f-fact that I'm f-f-f-freezing. I-I'm a-all r-right. You shouldn't h-have interfered, L-lenne. I-I had everything under c-control."

Lenne knelt by him. And again with the reproachful look.

_Why are you looking at me like that?_

The snow started to fall heavily, and the wind was picking up, churning the snow and making it all but possible to see.

Shuyin stared at Lenne, shivering violently. Man, did he ever need warmth... "What I-is it?"

Lenne narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll never be good enough for you to trust me, huh?"

The remark caught Shuyin off-guard. Xarinne, who was now walking towards them, instantly changed directions the moment he heard Lenne mutter those bitter words.

"Lenne," Shuyin started, trying to get up on his feet. He was so cold! He needed warmth. He cautiously pushed himself up and was almost on his feet, but because it was cold, the melted snow was immediately frozen up into a sheet of ice, which caused him to slip, skid then fall flat on his behind, which, only Yevon knew was freezing. "T-this i-is not the b-b-b-best time to t-t-talk. I'm f-f-reezing –"

Lenne didn't listen. "Whatever I do, no matter how I try, I'll end up messing up your plan. Every time I try to help you, I end up doing more damage. I want to help, too, Shuyin! This is **_my_** Pilgrimage! How can I train when you always push me aside to watch whether you'll defeat the enemy or..." she hesitated a bit then continued in a whisper. "... or get killed trying to protect me."

Shuyin didn't know what to say. He just needed to get warmth... Even just a bit or he will die... "Lenne..."

The very upset Summoner rounded on him again, this time her voice cracking with emotion. "I don't want you to die at my expense, Shuyin! I don't want you to die because you want me to live!"

This time Lenne was the one shaking violently, then she was hyperventilating. Shuyin carefully tried to stand, and was successful this time. He was still shivering but was able to keep to his feet. _Need... to... get... warm..._

Lenne turned her angry but still beautiful eyes at him and was about to say something else. Shuyin didn't allow her to utter another word. He cut her out by pulling her to him so suddenly she gasped in surprise. He crushed her warm body to his cold, wet one, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, burying his already frozen face in her long, fragrant hair. He didn't know what made him do this. He didn't even think about it, never hesitating. Maybe it was because he desperately needed warmth, or maybe it was because he felt like he needed to touch her, to comfort her in any way.

_Yevon, I would give anything to have you smile at me again..._

"Forgive me, Lenne," he murmured in her hair. "I do trust you. And I am sorry if I offended your pride as a Summoner." He hugged her closer, feeling her warmth seeping into his frozen body. She felt... good next to him. "But... you can't remove that fear in me if anything were to happen to you."

_What the - ? Where did that come from?_

Lenne's muffled reply came after a relatively long moment of silence. "Why?"

Shuyin blinked. Why?

_Why not?_

He swallowed hard. "I don't know..."

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They had camped again in the next mountain at the cave at the foot of Mt. Gagazet for the night. Luckily, no more fiends had decided to ambush their little party. Shuyin had wrapped his wounded arm with a bandanna and had said to a worried Xarinne that he will fix it when they camped.

On the way, Lenne had not spoken one word to him after pulling away from him after hearing his "I don't know". And since Xarinne and Lenne would not talk, and Shuyin would not initiate a conversation, as he was too busy tending to his wounds in front of the fire, the cave was filled with no other sound except for the crackling of the fire. Xarinne had wandered off a few hours ago, announcing that he will be back shortly with food. Lenne had distanced herself from him, sitting at the far wall of the cave, her back to him. He had wanted to ask her to join him near the fire where it was warmer but decided he really was not up to her mood swings and so had left her alone.

He had been trying to analyze the possible reasons why Lenne would not talk to him and came up with the conclusion that Lenne had gotten offended when he pulled her into an embrace. It was the first time he had actually been so forward to a girl.

_Great. Now she probably thinks I'm a pervert, _he though to himself as flashes of him nuzzling her hair invaded his brain. In reality, he did not know what came over him. The only thing that he didn't get was why Lenne was _this _mad at him.

_I mean, this is Lenne. She's been really forward from the very first time we met, making sure she was as close to me as possible. And a hug from me made her act like I ahd molested her or something. _

Now he knew why he stayed away from girls. They would eventually drive a man nuts.

He eyed Lenne in frustration. Now they will be forced to travel with her mad at him. Or more so, scared of him. He didn't know why it bothered him. Normally, he would have welcomed the silence, but now it kind of worried him.

He saw Lenne peer over her shoulder, but when she saw he was looking, she quickly looked away.

Xarinne came back a few minutes later with what appeared to be a dead mountain goat over one of his broad shoulders, and was carrying a sack of something in his free hand.

Shuyin hoped to Yevon they weren't Gagazet mushrooms. Those things were horrible.

His heart sank when he discovered that they were, indeed, those dreaded mushrooms. Oh, well. At least there was a goat.

The Ronso went on with preparing the food and Shuyin helped soon after he finished with his arm. Lenne stood up and looked like she was about to approach them to help, but stopped dead on her tracks and hesitated. A second later, she took a tentative step to her right and announced, "Uhm, I think I need to use the little girl's room, uh, I'll be right back." With that, she disappeared down the dark path of the cave.

Shuyin caught himself rising to his feet to follow her, just to make sure she would be safe, but Xarinne looked at him disapprovingly.

"Xarinne think Shuyin should leave Lenne alone," the Ronso suggested, lifting the slabs of meat skewered into the metal pole he carried with him over the fire.

Shuyin had not known himself capable of whining, but at that moment he came close to it. "I don't even know why she's mad at me."

At this, Xarinne chuckled. "Better not try to understand women. It will drive man crazy and still not find answers." He sat on the floor and nodded. "When Shuyin get married, Shuyin will understand better."

Shuyin stopped dead on what he was going to say. "Wait a minute. You mean you knew I wasn't married to Lenne after all?"

Xarinne laughed even harder. "Xarinne knew. Shuyin have no ring. That is human tradition, yes?"

"I'm sorry, Xarinne. I didn't mean to lie."

"Shuyin did not lie. It was Xarinne's guess."

The Ronso started throwing those horrible mushrooms into the fire. "So Lenne is a Summoner. And Shuyin is Lenne's Guardian?"

"Heck, no." Shuyin spread his cloak on the cave floor and stretched his full length over it, making himself once again stare at the unseen ceiling of the cave. "I'm a just here to tag along and help."

"What is the difference?"

Shuyin shrugged. He wasn't in the mood to try to logically explain what he wanted. "Maybe nothing. Maybe everything."

"Xarinne is confused. Shuyin does not want to be Lenne's Guardian?"

"That's right."

"And yet Shuyin is fearful if Lenne gets hurt, and does not want her to fight? Why?"

Again with the why.

Shuyin felt confused, too. He didn't really understand why he was being over protective yet wouldn't want to accept Lenne's offer of becoming her Guardian. He turned around to lie on his side, his back at the Ronso. "I don't know."

And deep down inside he knew he was telling the truth.

"Well, Xarinne has decided to ask Lenne if she would take Xarinne as Lenne's Guardian."

With this, Shuyin bolted upright from where he was lying. "_What?!_ Why?"

Xarinne stared at him, startled. "Why? Because Shuyin asked me to."

Shuyin sputtered. "What? I did not!"

Xarinne laughed. "Shuyin did!"

"No!"

"Yes. While battling fiends in Fayth Scar. Shuyin ask Xarinne: 'Can I trust you to keep her safe?' and Xarinne said, 'Xarinne shall protect Lenne with life'."

Shuyin's jaw drop in disbelief, but decided not to think about it. Lenne probably would be ecstatic. "All right, Xarinne. If that is what you want." _Ronso sure are weird._

This was turning out to be a really weird day.

"Advice from friend, Shuyin. It is Shuyin's choice not to be Lenne's Guardian. So if Summoner offers life, Shuyin cannot argue. Let Summoner train. It is Summoner's choice, and Summoner's life." Xarinne plucked a mushroom from the fire and popped it in his mouth. "Shuyin gives himself too much credit, thinks Lenne is weak. Lenne does not need help from too arrogant man. Until Lenne asks to be protected by Shuyin, Shuyin will believe in Lenne."

Shuyin, feeling kind of bad for what he was saying was a hundred percent true – he really was giving himself to much credit - slowly sat up and glared at the Ronso. "Whose friend are you exactly?"

Xarinne laughed out loud but didn't say anything.

Shuyin went back to lying on his side. He decided to take a nap."Wake me up when the goat's ready."

"The mushrooms are ready."

_Yevon. _"No thanks."

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_Shuyin woke up with his head spinning. He tried to stand up and as he did, he felt a stinging sensation at the back of his neck, like someone had hit him there to render him unconscious. _

_He painfully reached up and found himself leaning for support on cold dungeon bars._

Where the heck am I?

_He looked around, or rather yet, he felt his body move on its own, his consciousness merely watching what was happening. HE felt his hands grip the bars as he became aware of a man in a red uniform holding a record sphere watching him._

_"Gotta be sorry for what you did, huh?" said the man. He couldn't see his face, but he could feel an unexplainable anger in him for that soldier. He knew he was in Bevelle. He knew he was captures._

For what?

_All he knew was that he hated that man._

_"No, I'm not sorry! I never did anything wrong!" his body creamed at him, rattling the bars furiously._

_"You shouldn't have touched what wasn't yours, man. You could have avoided this predicament." The man moved forward, looming the recorder near his face. It annoyed the heck out of Shuyin. He wanted to reach out and strangle him..._

_"How can you blame me for trying to use your weapon? It was the only way for me to save the Summoner!" He howled in frustration, giving once again the bars a violent shake._

_"You think I care?" the soldier laughed, chuckling without mirth._

_"If she was your girl, what would _you_ do? **What would you do if you were me?!**"_

_The soldier eyed him in disgust. "You wanna know what I'd do, boy? I won't let my friggin' girlfriend join the war in the first place!" and with that, the soldier started to back off into the dungeon room, not really caring what his prisoner was muttering._

_Shuyin felt his knees give way to his weight. If it weren't for the bars that were supporting him, he would have ended up on the floor. And what he did next came as a surprise to his consciousness. _

_He began to sob. _

_Tears leaked down his face as whatever was left of his hope drained out of him._

_"I want to see her..."_

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Shuyin shot up from the floor, trying to catch his breath. He looked around to see where he was, and felt a surge of relief as he saw the already dying embers of the fire and Xarinne lying down from across him. He swallowed hard, trying to remove the tightness of is throat.

_What a bad dream. What was it about? Where was I then?_

He scanned the area and was surprised by the even greater degree of relief he felt when he saw Lenne sleeping on the far wall of the cave, bundled up in so many sheets he couldn't have recognized her had it not been for the long, silky hair that was poking out from the cloaks.

He raised his hands to his face, and when he did, he instantly pulled it away. He stared down at his gingers and frowned.

He had been crying in his sleep.


	14. Lenne and the Al Bhed

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here that had appeared in FFX-2. However, I had let them interact with characters I have created.**_

Lenne woke early the next day, shivering in the coldness of the cave. There was a low mist hovering about a hand below her knees and her toes in her boots knew it. She found it hard to open her eyes as she knew she needed more sleep, but she forced them open with a moan.

Focusing her vision, the first thing that registered to her senses were the remains of last night's fire and dinner. Bones littered the ground of what was left of the goat. Lenne couldn't help but smile at this.

Last night was the first time Xarinne had addressed her.

_And now, I have a guardian._

Her eyes wandered to the still sleeping Ronso. He was sprawled on his back, his blue and white fur standing up on end. This was probably the reason why the cold didn't seem to affect him. Xarinne had his mouth hanging open and was snoring quite loudly, a bit of drool trailing down one side of his jaw. Normally, Lenne would have found this pretty disgusting, but instead she caught herself feeling quite a certain fondness for the big fellow.

Last night, when she had returned from her trip to relieve herself, Xarinne was the only one left awake. Her eyes had desperately wandered to the already sleeping Shuyin. In reality, she did not feel comfortable without the Blitzball player to filter the Ronso's anger towards her, although she knew she deserved it. It had been she, after all, who had mistaken him for a fiend.

She had tried to sneak back into camp without being noticed, but the Ronso was not a Ronso for nothing. She was detected the moment she took a step forward.

"Xarinne could have heard Lenne a mile away," Xarinne's voice boomed through the cave.

Lenne had caught herself cowering on the ground, huddling with her arms raised over her head. "Oh, please don't hurt me, mister Ronso, Sir!" It scared her, and had it not been for the chuckling that erupted from Xarinne, she would have died from fear.

"Huh?" She peeked through the crack between her arms.

She saw Xarinne pluck a mushroom from the fire and popped it in his mouth. The mere sight of him eating those Yevon-forsaken things made Lenne sick.

The Ronso moved a bit and patted the ground next to him. "Come, Lenne. Join Xarinne for dinner. The goat is almost ready and the mushrooms are cooked." When Lenne didn't budge, he frowned and tried to explain. "Xarinne will not hurt Lenne. Xarinne never hurt anyone. Ronso are not blood-thirsty murderers who kill because of petty mistakes. Come. Sit. Let us eat together."

Lenne then hurried to the fire. Xarinne was actually making peace with her. The last thing she wanted was to have him take it back.

The fire had felt awfully nice. Had it not been for the mushroom that Xarinne had handed her, the warmth would have been easily enjoyed. But she didn't want to offend, so she took the mushroom and ate it very, _very_ slowly to avoid a second helping.

Xarinne poked at the very delicious-smelling goat. The aroma of the meat over an open fire made her mouth water. "Xarinne must wake Shuyin up. The goat is ready."

Lenne watched him crawl on his hands and knees and nudge the sleeping Shuyin.

Shuyin didn't move. Lenne tilted her head to the side as she saw Shuyin's eyelids flicker a bit, like that of a child having a dream. She had never noticed that he had such long lashes.

Xarinne scratched behind his ear. "Shuyin won't wake up?"

Lenne frowned as she heard the sleeping man murmur something. "Let me out... I want to see her..."

With this, a pang of unexpected jealousy struck her like a cactuar's 1000 needles. Shuyin was dreaming of a _woman._ "Let's let him sleep, Xarinne." Lenne sat back down and Xarinne did, too.

They were silent for a moment, then Xarinne spoke up. "Lenne, Will you accept Xarinne as Guardian?"

With this, Lenne lost all poise. She sputtered out the mushroom in her mouth she had been chewing on for almost five minutes now but refused to swallow. She blinked in bewilderment at the Ronso. "_What?!_ You want to be my _Guardian? _Why?"

Xarinne had busied himself with the meat, cutting a chunk of it and handing it to Lenne, who thankfully accepted it. The meat was tough and a bit over-cooked, but anything would be better than mushrooms. After helping himself to some of the goat, he grinned at her toothily. "Because Xarinne have Ronso honor. Ronso keep word, and Xarinne had promised Shuyin to protect Lenne with life. Does Lenne accept? Xarinne very strong! Will protect Lenne with life!"

Lenne hadn't really known what to say to that, but since the Ronso seemed more than eager to do it – and she feared offending this _Ronso Honor ­_– she just nodded her head and said yes even if she did not understand even half of the Ronso's logic.

_And now, Xarinne is my very first Guardian._

Lenne picked up her cloak, wrapped it around her shoulders and let her eyes travel from the sleeping Ronso to where Shuyin was.

Huh?

Shuyin was not there.

He was not in the cave at all.

"Where is he?" she murmured to herself.

Lenne felt herself blush as she remembered how Shuyin had pulled her to him in Fayth Scar. She remembered how cold he was, how he shivered when he embraced her tightly. She couldn't quite shake off how he smelled then, of snow mingling with sweat along with that hint of his usual gentle smell, like has wearing baby cologne or something.

She ended up getting her face even more red when he remembered how he muttered wanting to "see her", whoever "she" was.

But she refused to believe she was jealous.

I AM _NOT_ JEALOUS!

But where in Spira is he?

Yeah, right. Like as if he'd be running off in the middle of nowhere to see some slut...

The very thought of her thinking that way of another person made her feel guilty. She knew she had no right to think it of anyone, and especially not Shuyin. He had been so kind to her, and she knew that he was a little worried when she had stopped speaking to him. It had nothing to do with him, actually. It was all her. She was too ashamed then, feeling so inferior as compared to him. She had bothered him more than enough. She thought that maybe if she stayed away, maybe if she tried to be a little less dependent on him, he'll learn to respect her as a Summoner...

She smiled when she saw Xarinne stirring. Now she could ask where Shuyin had gone to. A good start was what they needed. She was having such a hard time trying really hard to be mature in a place like Mt. Gagazet.

_No one can stay here and be happy... How does Xarinne do it?_

"Good morning, Xarinne," Lenne greeted cheerfully, making her way to the Ronso. "Have you seen where Shuyin went?"

Xarinne ruffled his chest fur contentedly. "Shuyin? Oh, Shuyin left early in the morning. Did not say where he will go. Is Shuyin not back yet?"

Lenne shook her head. "No. When I woke up, he wasn't here. Didn't he say anything else?"

Xarinne got up and stretched to his full eight feet and shook his head. "Just that he had to think about the dream he had last night."

The words slipped out of Lenne's mouth even before she could stop herself. "Oh. So he wants to _'see her'_, is that right?" She sounded so, well, jealous, that it even surprised her.

_I can't be jealous. _

_Can I?_

Xarinne's eyes widened slyly and a grin swam across his face lazily like a goldfish in a bowl. "Lenne reminds me of mother when father does not come home for the night. Lenne not jealous, are you?"

Lenne gave a start, then shut her mouth in annoyance. "I refuse to answer that."

Xarinne burst out laughing.

Lenne sniffed. "I think I'll go look for him. He might be hurt or something. He has a wounded arm. Who knows where he is."

Xarinne shrugged, still laughing quietly. "Shuyin is strong. Shuyin is all right. But if Lenne insists, then Xarinne shall come along."

The two set off south, and about half an hour led them to the mouth of the cave where Lenne could already feel a gentle breeze blowing the opening as it opened up into an adjacent path overlooking a broad rolling sea of green. The temperature rocketed to the sun, and had it not been for the wind, the heat would have made her quite uncomfortable. Unconsciously, she shed her layers and layers of cloaks. She neatly folded it up and stuffed it inside her traveling bag, then drank up the scenery to her heart's content.

She had never seen anything so broad in her life...

"Too warm for Ronso," complained Xarinne as he made his way down the rocky path.

Lenne bounced down after him, giggling like a little child who had just found a new playground. "We made it! We made it to the Calm Lands! We made it out of the mountains and everything is so beautiful!" She surveyed her surroundings eagerly. She loved it. Everything about it. The mere fact that there were no houses or buildings within her point of view, that small trees here and there dotted the landscape. She couldn't resist it. She twirled around, her face to the heavens, arms outstretched, hair fanning out to the air.

Xarinne was staring at her with a smile, then looked around, proceeding to the bridge situated over the gorge. "Where is Shuyin?"

Lenne skipped happily towards him, a song in her lips. She felt like a bird in desperate need to fly. She had been so use to Zanarkand's crowded streets and cramped buildings that she found this like a Songstress' Paradise.

Never in her life did she ever feel this free...

_And how I longed to be free._

The moment she reached the bridge, she skipped a little more then started to hop over the lines on the wood, playing an imaginary game of hopscotch.

Xarinne turned around in panic. "Lenne! It is dangerous. Lenne might - "

Too late. Losing balance, Lenne felt the wood under her feet give way and she ended up losing her balance. Trying to keep her footing, her hands started to flail, but to no avail. One moment, she was keeling over, the next she was hanging for dear life on the edge of the bridge, her legs dangling in mid air, with nothing below her but a long drop.

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The Calm Lands was an expanse of miles and miles of flat ground covered by a blanket of ankle-high grass. No one had ever tried to cultivate it for it was too far from anything to interest people; no one would have anything to do with a land in the middle of Mt. Gagazet and Macalania woods. However, there were some squatters who had built houses along the boarder, and as far as Shuyin could remember, there was an Al Bhed Travel Agency somewhere in the middle of the expanse. And except for Chocobo breeding, no one had made better use of the Calm Lands.

Shuyin wandered down the gorge bottom lazily. He had been up all morning not because he didn't want to sleep anymore. It was because his arm wouldn't let him wink a minute more. It had started aching in the middle of the night, when everyone was asleep. He didn't know what to do with it. Never really that good with herbs and healing. He could remember Lenne mentioning she was really good at healing, but because they weren't talking then, he was too shy – or too proud – to ask for her help.

It was only then did he feel the regret. He didn't know why, but he knew that the constant throbbing of his head was somehow connected to his wounded arm. He really wasn't feeling good and so had left camp, telling a half-asleep Xarinne, thinking that perhaps a bit of fresh air would do him good.

So far, it did him no good at all.

His head was still aching and his arm felt it was getting worse.

He decided to make his way back and was passing beneath the bridge when he heard a lot of giggling from above him. He looked up and saw shadows between the cracks of the wooden bridge.

The two had caught up.

His lips parted into a small smile when he heard Xarinne protest incoherently, followed by a loud _THUMP! THUMP!_ from overhead.

His smile dematerialized from his face. _Is Lenne jumping on the bridge???_

The next thing that happened answered his question. On the floor of the gorge, he could see the shadow of an unmistakable Lenne flailing her arms to keep her balance on the edge of the bridge and a moment later, her booted feet protruded from the side. Then she started to yelp.

Shuyin started to panic. It was more or less a twenty-foot drop beneath her!

_Yevon, she'll break her neck!_

He dashed to the spot directly beneath her, shoving aside the pain that continued to terrorize him, then looked up at her. "Lenne! What in Spira do you think you're doing?!"

The Summoner's pale face turned to him, and instantly turned two to three shades redder. "Shuyin!" she squealed. "**_Don't you dare look up my skirt!_**"

_What?!_

It was only when Lenne mentioned it did he notice how her legs were PG-18 exposed. She had – _ahem!_ – black lace underwear, but Yevon know that Shuyin didn't care. "Lenne, if I don't look up, I won't be able to help you. Let go of the bridge! I'll catch you!"

Lenne shot him another look and when she saw he was still staring up, she screamed at him. "Shuyin, you pervert!"

"Pervert!? I'm not even – "

"**_DON'T LOOK UP MY SKIRT!!!!!!!!_**"

Shuyin was starting to get exasperated. "Lenne, just let go of the bridge. I'll catch you. Then I won't be able to look up your skirt even if I wanted to – which I don't, mind you." He held out his arms. Another jolt of pain shot through his skull. "Come on. Let go of the bridge."

And naturally, Lenne stubbornly held on. She just kept on holding on, her legs flailing everywhere. Annoyed, Shuyin stared straight ahead, not wanting to be called a pervert again. He just stood there and listened to her grunt and squirm on the edge. He really didn't have the stamina to do this now.

_Fine. Be that way._

After a few minutes, Lenne's meek reply came. "Shu-Shuyin?"

Shuyin sighed, covered his eyes with one hand, then turned his face up. "What?"

"Uhm, o-okay. I don't mind if you see up my skirt. I'll jump. Catch me, okay?"

At this, the Blitzball player let out a sigh of relief, peeled his hand from his face and held out his arms wide. Man, the pain was intolerable... "On three, Lenne. One, two, three."

Lenne let go. She screamed as she fell all the way down into his arms with a thud, her hair swishing in the landing.

And Shuyin felt the most unbearable pain he had ever felt in his life shoot through his nervous system, making stars dance in front of his eyes. It reverberated through his skull and chest like a gong. But he kept a straight face. He didn't want to make Lenne think it was her fault again. She loved to do that. She loved to blame herself.

Shuyin studied her face to check if she was all right. Her eyes were shut tight, her mouth clamped and he noticed she was holding her breath. After a while, she opened her eyes and swallowed. ""Hi..."

Shuyin shook his head in disapproval. "Did you know, Lenne, that if you fall and break your neck, there's a greater chance you could die?" he asked sarcastically.

Lenne pouted, knitting her brow. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"It's all right. Be careful next time." Shuyin decided not to give her a hard time anymore. She probably wanted that as much as he did, which is to saw he never wanted that to happen at all. He looked up the bridge only to see a squatting Xarinne who was looking back at them with an amused glint in his green eyes.

Shuyin frowned at him. "You could have easily pulled her up, you know."

Xarinne shook his head. "No. In Ronso way, when cubs get themselves into trouble, they learn to get themselves out. Lenne always get mad at Shuyin for protecting her, but Lenne very irresponsible when given the chance to prove self." The Ronso sprang up to his feet, leaping down the twenty foot drop, and landing on the gorge bottom on all fours, like a cat. He grinned up at Lenne. "Trust is earned, Lenne. Not received for free."

Shuyin saw Lenne's lip quiver and tears were starting to form in the corner of her gray eyes.

_Those beautiful gray eyes..._

It was a painful sight, probably as painful as the throbbing in his head. She was trying hard not to cry, probably because she thought that crying would make her appear weaker. He wanted to comfort her.

Shuyin set her down gently to her feet, this motion making his arm protest. "That's enough, Xarinne. Lenne is not a Ronso. Humans learn in a different pace. She will learn in her own time. You are her Guardian now. You have to watch over her. No matter how shallow or how complex her problem is."

Xarinne grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Shuyin. Sorry Lenne."

"No, I am sorry, Xarinne. It was very careless of me," Lenne said, then turned to Shuyin and tried to wipe her teary eyes unnoticed, then flashed him a smile. "I'll learn, Shuyin. I promise. I'll be better. Thank you... for trusting me." And with that, she laughed at Xarinne. "I didn't think I could have gotten hurt anyway." She knocked her head twice. "My skull is so hard, I doubt the ground will stand a chance."

Shuyin realized at that moment he had missed Lenne laughing. She had not once even giggled since that "bad dream" in the cave in the mountains.

_Laugh again. Please?_

She didn't, but when she noticed he was looking, she flashed him another winning smile, then continued poking fun with the Ronso, who in turn made fun of her as well.

In that gorge did Shuyin finally understand Lenne's way of thinking. She was a performer. She had lived all her life basing her emotions on the mood of the people around her and the environment itself. The change was remarkable. The moment she entered the Calm Lands, she started being happy and perky all over again.

It's a wonder how she could still smile while being around me... 

It had been wrong of him to think of Lenne negatively simply because she was not like him. Deep down, however he tried to correct himself, he knew that he wouldn't have found her any more charming if she were any different.

_I hope she never changes..._

His thoughts were interrupted by the memory of the dream he had last night. He had been calling out to a Summoner, and although he didn't mention any names, he somehow knew it was Lenne.

_Why was I trying to save her? Was she in danger?_

_What a weird dream. I hope I never dream of it again._

But it didn't matter. She was here, and she was safe. Shuyin pressed his forefingers to his temple in an attempt to ease the pain. Suddenly, he remembered something very important he felt Lenne should know. "Have you ever ridden a chocobo, Lenne?"

Lenne turned to face him, momentarily abandoning the small game of rock, paper, scissors with Xarinne. "A chocobo? I've seen some before. I even used some on my concerts. But never rode one. Why?"

Shuyin started for the path that led to the plains. "Al Bhed breed chocobos here in the Calm Lands, and they let tourists ride an hour for free. Since we're here, I thought that maybe you'd like to try it." He had walked out about ten feet from them when he realized Lenne wasn't following. He looked over his shoulder. "What? You don't like chocobos? Don't worry, they're very friendly. A little feisty but – "

"Oh, no it's not that, Shuyin. I would love to ride on a chocobo for the first time," she rushed to his side and shyly looked up at him under her lashes with a blush. "But why? You never want us to stop for anything except food and a bit of rest."

Shuyin turned away from her. He could never hold her stare. It was too beautiful. "Because I owe you a sunrise."

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Lenne warily looked at Shuyin at the corner of her eyes. The sun had just passed over their heads and was making its way lazily across the very blue sky. In Lenne's perspective, it was hot especially after Gagazet, but nonetheless, she hadn't broken a sweat. They had made it halfway across the plains by foot in three or four hours, making use of whatever shade they stumbled upon, and Shuyin had asked for a breather in each one. Right now, as they continued their little journey across the grasslands, she noticed sweat was literally pouring from the Blitzball player's forehead. Not only that, but she noticed he was breathing hard. His steps were getting heavier and heavier by the minute.

It was with great relief when she saw in the distance a very colorful bungalow type house, rounded walls and dome-like roof a rainbow of blue, red and green. Behind it, was an expanse of land but this time, the grass looked trodden and worn. She recognized the Travel Agency from Shuyin's description earlier. The place was enclosed by wooden brown fences, which constituted the ranch. And in the distance, Lenne could make out about a hundred yellow specks she knew were chocobos, running around in packs.

She paid no attention to the big birds and turned to Shuyin. He was wiping his forehead with a yellow bandanna one moment, the next he was massaging his temple, like he did earlier in the gorge.

Xarinne seemed to have been aware of the Blitzball player's state and was examining him with concern, too.

Lenne couldn't take it anymore. Without a word, she rounded on Shuyin so fast the guy wasn't even able to react. She presses her hand on his forehead, gasped and withdrew with a hiss, as if burned. Actually, that was exactly what happened. Shuyin was burning up! "Yevon, you have a _fever_, Shuyin!" She reached out to touch his face again, but he grabbed her hand softly.

"I think it's the White Fang wound... I don't feel too good..." he mumbled. The confession surprised Lenne. She wasn't exactly expecting for him to admit he was sick, which was probably the reason why she never asked earlier. "But I'll be fine. I just need to rest a bit... then we can ride the chocobo... "

Lenne shook her head and was about to argue with him, then stopped herself. If she insisted they stay because of him, a shoopuff stampede wouldn't have stopped him from leaving the place in a heartbeat. She tried a different approach. "I'm tired, Shuyin. Let's stay for the night. We can take our time for today, and I promise we'll make up for lost time tomorrow. I really need some rest... Please?"

Xarinne nodded at her in admiration, as if saying, "Good job." He knew that if they didn't make an excuse to stay, the man would trudge on regardless of his state.

Shuyin didn't seem to mind, though. His eyes really weren't giving anything away. In fact, he had a faraway look behind his eyes. But he nodded his head anyway. "All right... I owe... you a ... sunrise..." and with that, his knees betrayed him. He fell forward. Lenne tried to catch him, but Xarinne was quicker. The Ronso caught him by the chest and arm. And with one move, he heaved the now unconscious Shuyin over one shoulder. It reminded her of the time when he had carried her that way across Zanarkand City.

Lenne pushed away strands of hair from his face and smiled. _You are human, after all._

They made their way to the Agency double doors and were welcomed by a pleasant gust of cold wind. There were a few people loitering the Agency lobby, mingling in groups of two's and threes on the small round tables scattered along the spacious area. All of them looked like they had just arrived, as their things were still spilled on the floor. She recognized some of the clothes of the people. Some of them had come from Luca and Kilika. She wondered for a second where they were headed.

None of them seemed to find anything interesting in the newcomers. Which was more than better. A huge Ronso carrying an unconscious man was not easy to explain, so she took that advantage by crossing through the crowded lobby and hoped to the heavens that there were still rooms available for them to rent out.

The next problem came to her the moment she reached the counter. The man behind it began to speak in this really weird, incoherent language!!!

"_Famlusa! Fryd lyn E tu vun oui?_"

Lenne froze from taking out the small pouch of gil from her bag and stared at the man as if he had suddenly sprouted a pink moogle pompom-ball on his head. She narrowed her eyes at the man. He was short as he was round, whatever hair he had lost on head was compensated with the bushy mustaches covering his face. He was wearing goggles over his very narrow eyes. "Excuse me?" she retorted, thinking the man was making fun of her.

Xarinne turned to Lenne. "The man is Al bhed, Lenne. Al Bhed speak a different tongue."

"_Yr, cunno! Cunno!_" The man babbled even more and then smiled widely. "Hallo. My name is Ran. My family owns Agency. Me no speak well English. But what can I do you for?"

Lenne eyed him suspiciously, but nodded anyway. She had never really had Al Bhed showing up in her concerts either. She will have to ask Xarinne about that later. "We need rooms. Three - "

Xarinne shook his head. "No, no room for Ronso, Lenne. Xarinne is burning alive in the heat. Xarinne shall sleep under stars tonight. Lenne get Shuyin a room. Xarinne shall be fine."

Lenne didn't argue. They had to get Shuyin treated. She started digging in her pouch. "Fine. Rooms. We need two."

Ran smiled even more – if it was possible to smile even more. He was smiling too much already. "Two, you say? That will be two thousand gil."

Lenne almost snapped at the man. That was absurd! You can get a room in Zanarkand for five hundred!! But she handed him the money anyway, however grudgingly she did it, got the key and led the way to the end of the hall to room 434. She didn't want to argue right now. What a tourist trap! They were charging extra because there were a lot of people! Using the key to open the door, she grumbled to herself. The door snapped open and she let Xarinne enter first, lugging a still unconscious Shuyin in. He deposited him on the bed at the center of the room. At least the room was clean. Actually, it was not half bad. The furniture were of the minimalistic sense. Lamps and candles illuminated the dark corners of the room. Everything was small, from the side tables to the throw pillows on the carpeted floor. The only thing big was the bed. It looked good enough for Xarinne to fit. Lenne wondered why the bed was this huge, as it was a single room. She discarded the idea and went to work.

Lenne knelt at the foot of the bed and fiddled with the laces on Shuyin's black and yellow boots. She had to lower his temperature, somehow.

Choras had been a good nurse. She had taught her well with herbs and first aid. Never in her eighteen years, however, did she think she'd be able to put this knowledge into practice.

Succeeding into untying his laces, she pulled the left boot first and let out a small yelp as the sudden weight of the footwear surprised her. Yevon! Each boot could easily have been fifteen to twenty pounds!

_Shuyin must have worn his training boots, _she thought to herself as she let the unusually heavy boot fall noiselessly on the carpeted floor. She attacked the next boot with a vengeance, pulling at it unceremoniously and letting it drop to the floor next to its pair. She began to wonder how he could move with such heavy gear clinging to his ankles. She couldn't imagine Shuyin's agility if he fought without them...

She could not believe she was already panting by just removing his shoes! Getting to her feet, she went to the side of the bed, sat down next to him, and brushed back his messy blond hair that was matted down on his forehead because of the sweat. He was really having a hard time breathing and his face was completely flushed. Lenne felt her fingers linger longer than necessary on his hot cheek, then down, tracing his jawline with the tips of her fingers. He looked helpless now, like a little kid. It was a huge contrast to how he was in battle.

_It's your eyes. It has to be your eyes. Something happens to your eyes when you enter a battle..._

The dreams of her and Shuyin's death haunted her thoughts for a split-second. She remembered those bluer-than-blue twin orbs then. Wild, frightening, and frightened all at the same time.

Lenne pushed the memory aside. It scared her, that madness in Shuyin she had seen in that nightmare. She caught herself hoping against hope that she will never have to see that again. Ever.

She fiddled with his V-neck shirt, loosening the small belts around the collar and the black and red checkered sleeves. With a grunt, she pulled at the bottom of the shirt and heaved it over her patient's head. The feat was even more difficult than the shoes; Shuyin's shoulders were too broad. Cursing under her breath, she threw the shirt over the nearest chair and settled her eyes back to him.

And found herself blushing to the roots of her hair.

Never in her life did she even think of seeing herself in a room with a man who was naked, waist up. Shuyin had an amazing body, every single muscle in his upper body was well defined and well toned, not too bulky, just right.

_I wonder if the rest of his body is?_ She scolded herself for even thinking the thought. She barely caught her hand as it tried to reach out and to him touch his arm.

_What the heck do you think you're doing, Lenne!? Get your homones together! The man is burning up, for Yevon's sake!_

Xarinne, who had planted himself on the ground by the exit, coughed uncomfortably, catching Lenne's attention. She had completely forgotten he was there. "Should Xarinne leave Lenne and Shuyin alone?"

Lenne shot Xarinne a deadly look, then shook her head roughly. "Shuyin packed some stuff before we left the city. It's in the bag next to where you're sitting. Can you check if there are any antidotes there. Or better yet, some remedies?"

Xarinne obediently did so, and found an antidote in her things. He got up and handed her a small vial of blue liquid. "Then what?"

Lenne forced the bottle into Shuyin's mouth, pinched his nose and watched as the blue liquid slide in. He coughed a couple of times from swallowing wrongly and then started to breath laboriously again.

Xarinne knitted his brow. "Nothing is happening."

"It'll get rid of the poison in his body, but not the fever. We'll have to immerse him in water to lower down the fever." Lenne scanned the room and saw another door parallel to the entrance. "That must be the bathroom. Xarinne, kindly check if there is water inside."

Walking across the room, his horn barely touching the roof, he peeked inside the annex and nodded. "There is a tub full of water."

"Is it cool?"

Xarinne disappeared inside the bathroom, having to duck to enter it. After a moment, came his feeble "yes," then came back out, wiping his hands on his pant legs.

"That's good." Lenne turned to the Ronso. "Well, do your job, Xarinne." And with this, she made her way to the door.

Xarinne blinked. "Huh?"

Lenne faced the bewildered Ronso. "To remove Shuyin's fever, we have to undress him, dump him in the tub of water, dry him down then dress him up again. I find it really improper to undress Shuyin while he's down like that. Normally, I wouldn't mind. But if Shuyin ever knew that I had seen more of him not even his mother had seen after the age of eight, he'll probably never speak to me out of embarrassment. You know how he is."

Xarinne thought about this for a moment, his chin resting in his hand, then nodded in agreement. "Lenne is right." He nodded again, more vigorously. "Right. Xarinne shall do it."

"Good. Soak him in the tub for five minutes, then dress him up quickly. Call me when he's decent. I forgot to get the key for my room. I'm going to get it now." With this, she left there as fast as she could. When she finally closed the door behind her, she let out huge sigh of relief. True, she didn't want to embarrass Shuyin, but she knew that deep down, she didn't know what to do if she were the one to strip him down to his naked butt.

Shoving the idea of a stark naked Shuyin out of her head, she started for the lobby. It was every bit as crowded when they first arrived, if not even more. She headed straight for the counter. The round man was still there. He still had the annoying smile on his face.

He started talking in that weird language again. "_A secc, oui'na plyg! Fryd lyh E tu vun oui?_"

"Translation, please?"

"What can I do you for, miss?"

Yevon, he did speak weird English. "I'm here to pick up my other key? I rented two rooms."

The Al Bhed was confused. "_Fryd?_ No, miss. I is afraid you is mistaken,_ oac? _You did not ask for two rooms. You asked for a room for two."

The first automatic reaction Lenne had was of annoyance. "No. I asked for two rooms. Two, see?" She held out two fingers and pointed at it. "I even paid for two rooms. Heck, in reality, I should have rented five, if it weren't for your insanely high prices. Now give me the key."

The Al Bhed shook his head. "_E's cunno, sy'ys._ _Drana ynah'd yno suna nuusc..._"

"Speak in English," Lenne said timidly, feeling even more annoyed with each passing second.

"No more rooms. All are taken. Miss asked for rooms for two. And -"

Lenne didn't even wait for him to finish. The next realization was finally dawning to her slowly. She dropped down on the nearest circular table as if in a trance.

_No wonder the bed in Shuyin's room was so big... It was a double._

Her insides did a flip-flop, and she let her head down hard, her forehead crashing on the table with a loud **_bang! _**Some of the customers nearby stopped talking and stared.

Lenne didn't care. Tonight, she will have to share a bed with Shuyin...

Either that, or she'll sleep with Xarinne and a flock of chocobos under a blanket of stars and a pack of flesh-eating mosquitoes...

_Yevon... _

**_Author's Note: Hi! I hope you like this chapter. I made it a few paragraphs longer than my first chapters, because I think I won't be able to update this anytime soon. My brain is not functioning properly, and I can't seem to think of what should come next. I'm having a hard time in thinking on how they will be crossing Macalania without encountering anyone from Bevelle, and the last thing I want is an early death for Lenne and Shuyin... lol!_**

_**Anyway, I hope you bear with my Al Bhed. Please tell me if I made any mistake at all okay! Well, I will update as soon as I jumpstart my brain. =) Man, that Bevelle, giving me a hard time... (grumble, grumble...) **_


	15. Wild Eyes

_**Hahahahahahahaha! An update! Yay!!!**_

_**Read and Review please!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own FFX-2! But I did let Shuyin and Lenne interact with some characters I made.**_

Lenne's eyes flew open but kept her forehead down on the table she had slammed it upon earlier when a conversation on one of the nearer tables caught her attention where man and a woman were talking. Slowly, the Summoner turned her eyes towards the couple.

The woman was definitely from Luca, judging from those robes she was wearing and the way she styled her dark hair in a multitude of braids. Ladies from Luca were always very flamboyant. The man, on the other hand, was obviously from the town of Kilika, what with his clothes an assortment of knitted fabric and leather belts. He had a funny mustache, each end tipping up on his cheeks. In front of them, on the table were two sphere recorders.

She caught the conversation when the woman was the one talking. "Bevelle has been acting really weird lately. It seems like they had been doubling their guard around their city until Macalania. Whew! Those Bevelle guards give me the creeps..."

Mustache-man shook his head, disgusted. "I know how you feel. Three weeks ago, an emissary from Bevelle came to Luca. They said they were there to evangelize the word of Yevon."

Lenne's ears pricked at the mention of the name. _Yevon? _She had always cussed to the name, knowing it was like Bevelle's god. She had always taken it as a joke, but never really thought that Bevelle really was taking things seriously.

_So now they're evangelizing?_

The woman nodded her head vigorously. "In Luca, too. To tell you honestly, it frightened me. Along with that Maester Lua of theirs, they brought along nearly a hundred of them soldiers. Armed! It felt like I was being preached to at gunpoint."

"Funny. They brought soldiers with them to Kilika, too. Why the heck did they bring soldiers to Kilika!? If I hadn't known better, I'd say the rumors were true."Mustache-man ran his hand down the face of his sphere recorder and cringed. "Now that this is all happening, I don't think I would want to be a recorder anymore. You tend to know too much you shouldn't... "

Lenne was unconsciously edging on her seat. She was normally not this eager to eavesdrop on other people but... for some weird reason, she felt like this was too important to miss.

"Me, too. I guess I don't have to ask what you're talking about?"

"You've been to the Council in your town, haven't you?"

"It was the worst experience ever."

_The Council?_

She could remember the Council in Zanarkand three weeks ago quite well. That was the time when Bevelle had paid them an "unexpected" visit... She was asked by the Council to perform for their "guests" then, and so, out of curiosity and probably out of boredom, she had stayed to listen to what that Measter had to say.

The mere thought of it made the hair at the back of her neck stand on end. The Maester had held the Council at gunpoint and insisted that they enter this sort of "agreement" or allegiance or something that concerns their god. She really didn't know what really happened then, since Choras had dragged her out of there faster that fast, but she did know that it was no good. Bevelle never was up to any good.

Zanarkand had bluntly refused their offer.

"They told us that if we do not join in their cause, it will get ugly..."

The woman shuddered. "They told us the same thing..."

_Us, too. _Lenne thought, trying to rid herself of the gooseflesh on her arms.

The man started to wring his hands together nervously. "We had to agree. Kilika is such a small town. We can't really defend ourselves."

"The council in Luca had agreed, too. I heard Besaid agreed as well. Come to think of it, Besaid is such a pushover it'll agree on anything."

Mustache-man looked over his shoulder to the people gathered at the back of the lobby. Lenne assumed that they were with the lady from Luca. "So Bevelle sent you and your party to go to Zanarkand, too?"

Lenne's back automatically straightened. _HUH?_

"Yes. And you? Oh, don't tell me they sent you, too. Where's your party?"

"Outside. We weren't able to get rooms..."

Lenne couldn't take it anymore. She slammed her palms on the table and was about to stand to ask the couple outright when Xarinne's heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

"Shuyin is decent. Lenne told Xarinne to call when Shuyin is decent," the Ronso announced.

Lenne nibbled on her lower lip, suddenly feeling anxious of what all these people were going to do in her hometown. But Shuyin needed her, and so she had to go.

Standing up from the chair, she followed the eight-foot tall Ronso back to room 434, her head in the clouds.

_Bevelle is forcing Yevon to Spira. Zanarkand is the only city that refused...What will happen now?_

Memories of her concert days ago haunted her as she made her way down the hall. Shuyin had known what was going on. He had automatically associated the suicide bombing to a war. How?

_What was Bevelle planning?_

"Is Lenne all right?"

Lenne shook herself out of her reverie at the sound of Xarinne's voice. "Oh, I'm fine." She watched as the Ronso gazed down at her and shrugged, not saying anything until they finally reached the room.

At the very moment she stepped inside, Bevelle, the war, and the whole conversation she had just heard altogether flew out the window.

"XARINNE! I TOLD YOU TO DRESS HIM UP!!!" Lenne squealed as she saw Shuyin lying on the bed with a blanket covering him from the waist down, his broad upper body still exposed. The reason why she knew he wasn't wearing anything else was because she saw his pants on the floor, rumpled and forgotten by the bathroom door.

Xarinne grinned sheepishly. Lenne was fond of the Ronso to death, but she swore right then, she wanted to kick him in the you-know-what just to wipe that grin off of his face. "Xarinne tried, Lenne. Xarinne tried for thirty minutes, but Shuyin would not cooperate. It no matter. Lenne will not stay here anyway."

She felt the blood rise to her face, then drain out instantaneously. Feeling slightly weak, she leaned with one hand on the wall, her other hand rubbing her temple. "Xarinne, there aren't any more rooms. I don't have a choice but to sleep here tonight."

Xarinne brushed her statement aside. "That is all right. Shuyin sleeps like rock. Shuyin can even sleep in boat deck and not wake up. Shuyin will not mind."

"Xarinne, _I _mind." Lenne felt her knees wobble at the thought that not only did she have to share a bed with Shuyin, but had to share a bed with a _naked _Shuyin!

Her eyes scanned the room desperately. Maybe she could just sleep on the floor. There's a carpet that definitely looked heaps more comfortable that the cave floor at Mt. Gagazet.

She was seriously considering it, but then the fact that she had actually spent two thousand gil paraded in her mind. Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she knew there was no way she was going to sleep on the floor while Shuyin enjoyed the comforts of these overpriced accommodations!

She then tried to rationalize.

_It's a big enough bed. I mean, he's there, all the way on the other side._

After rationalizing, she started weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

_Pro: Shuyin probably does sleep like a rock. He really wouldn't know I'm beside him until I finally wake up in the morning before him. Con: He might wake up before I do, and I'm dead. Pro: Shuyin didn't look like he moved around too much in his sleep. I mean, look at him! He's hardly moving at all! Con: What if he did move a lot, contrary to my assumptions?_

Lenne shivered. This was going to be a really long night.

Xarinne really looked apologetic. "I am sorry, Lenne." Shuyin really wouldn't move. Shuyin would just lie there. But at least Shuyin is feeling a lot better. Still has fever, but not as much."

Lenne cringed inwardly. _Whoopee... _

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She had tried everything to keep herself from sleeping. By ten, Xarinne had left "their room", announcing that he will be "sleeping under the stars". She had been ever so tempted to come with him, but her fear for Shuyin's well-being got the better of her.

By ten thirty, she tried to practice her Cure spells, which she found out only earlier in the day she knew some. It must have come along with her union with Mayali's Aeon. She even tried it a bit on Shuyin, but since it was a fever that he had, her spell really didn't help him.

By eleven, she started walking around the room, once in a while looking over the sleeping man on the bed and wondering how he was feeling now.

By eleven fifteen, she noticed Shuyin's pants and folded it up neatly, then placed it on the chair next to his shirt.

Then, by twelve, the unexpected happened. She was sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed when Shuyin started to shiver. The sound of his teeth chattering got her to her feet and in a panic.

Shuyin was shivering madly. In a rush, Lenne grabbed the end of the blanket and pushed it up to his chin. Great. Now what was she to do?

What was it that Choras told her when the patient starts to shiver? Oh, yeah! You have to balance the temperature or something like that...

_Oh, no..._

Lenne bit her lower lip nervously. Choras said that if the patient's fever doesn't break soon...

_Ulp!_

Lenne started to wring her sweaty hands furiously, pacing back and forth at the side of the bed. She watched as Shuyin continued to violently quiver on the bed.

Choras said that you have to regulate the other person's body temperature by...

_Oh, Yevon!_

By using your own body temperature. So that means...

Lenne sighed in resignation. _Fine. I'll lie with Shuyin._

As she kicked off her boots, she started to rationalize again. _I have no choice. Shuyin needs this. So like... I HAVE TO DO THIS!_ She decided to go for it before she lost her nerve. Slowly and quietly, she sat on the bed. She cringed as it creaked noisily under her weight. She didn't remember it being that noisy before. She was probably nervous. Gently, she inched towards his shaking body and laid her head on the pillow he was using. She didn't bother to slip under the sheets - she didn't dare get that bold as to venture that territory – and lightly put her arms around his shoulders.

Swallowing hard, she pressed close to him, feeling his body radiating the fever's heat. Perhaps it was an unconscious reaction, but when she went nearer to him, he leaned onto her form, as if knowing that it would do him all the good if he pressed near her.

Lenne blinked and slowly raised her eyes to his face. His eyes were shut tight and she realized he was breathing through his mouth.

_Shuyin has a nice mouth..._

Lenne immediately beat the thought into submission and tossed it out of her mind, her face heating up again. Why is it that Shuyin would always have that effect on her?!

Just when she thought it wouldn't get any worse, Shuyin's arms suddenly slipped around her waist, and she gasped as he pulled her closer. Out of reflex, Lenne tried to shove him off, but his strength surprised her. He held on, crushing her to him, like how he did in Fayth Scar. After struggling for a few moments, she sighed in resignation and just lay there silently, listening to his labored breathing and to her heart that was beating a mile a minute.

She closed her eyes then let her thoughts linger elsewhere. She began to think about the conversation she had overheard earlier and she began to worry all over again. _What was that about anyway? What will they do in Zanarkand?_

Had it not been for Shuyin, who suddenly pressed his mouth near her ear, she would have went on and on thinking about it all night, but then, he murmured the most unexpected phrase she had never thought would pass his lips.

"Don't leave me..."

For a moment, Lenne started to panic, her eyes flying open. Was he just pretending to be asleep and is really aware of her lying next to him?

Lenne instantly brushed the thought away as Shuyin continued to murmur.

"I have to save her..."

Lenne didn't know if she should be happy that Shuyin was, in fact, asleep, or feel uncomfortable lying next to him while he dreamed of another girl.

The mere thought made her smile sadly.

Oh, well...

Snuggling near him, making sure his body was covered complete by the blanket, she closed her eyes and fell asleep to that tingle of jealousy that confused the heck out of her head, and her heart even more.

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His whole body was like it was made of lead, and his joints were not cooperating with him when he tried to stretch. Not only this, but his eyelids were so heavy he couldn't open his eyes. The only thing he was aware of was the squawking of chocobos from somewhere outside. Gathering all his will power to peel his eyes open, he finally managed and found himself staring at a colorful ceiling. He was lying on his back, his one arm on his chest, the other was pinned down by something next to him...

He turned to his right to see what it was, and his once heavy eyes widened in panic at what he saw.

There, snuggled close to his side, was a sleeping Lenne, her dark hair fanned out on his arm! His face heated up instantaneously. He swallowed nervously, looking around for any means of getting out of bed without waking her up. After several futile attempts of pulling his arm free, with a grunt from the sleeping woman every time he pulled, he gave up.

He could barely remember what had happened to him yesterday. The last thing he could recall was that they reached the Agency. After that, everything was unclear.

Once again, he cursed himself for having been really careless about that White Fang wound. He should have known better than to have underestimated that attack. Being utterly helpless in his current position, he went back to his usual past time: staring at the ceiling. He began to wonder what had led him to this predicament. _Why in Spira is Lenne sleeping beside me? And to think she called me a pervert..._

He felt his body involuntarily shiver. He swore there was a draft coming from somewhere... Finally, realization hit him. In a rush, he grabbed the edge of the blanket and peered in.

_**Holy Bahamut! I'm naked!!!**_

He snapped the blanket back down and realized he was breathing hard. This was just great. He was trapped, and he didn't have any clothes on! He tried to calm himself, regulated his breathing, then sighed. This was not turning out to be a good day...

He eyed the closed blinds on the tall window on the far wall. There was a little bit of light slipping in, but not enough for him to know what time it was.

Slowly, he turned to look at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful, her mouth slightly open, her chest rising and falling as she breathed. He couldn't help himself. Gingerly, he reached with his free hand as if to brush her hair – he had always wondered how it would feel to run his fingers through her hair – when suddenly, her big, grey eyes popped open. Shuyin felt his heart jump to his throat. For a moment, they stared at each other, neither breathing nor blinking. Then, with a gasp, she catapulted so fast into a sitting position that she almost fell out of bed.

At first, Shuyin didn't move from his place - he really still felt weak – until Lenne started to pull on the blanket nervously. Selfishly, Shuyin pulled it back. "Hey, sharing is good, you know." He could hardly recognize his voice. He didn't care. He needed that blanket.

Lenne stubbornly held on, pulling on it dangerously hard. "I know."

Shuyin sighed in exasperation. Why is it that he always had to be caught into embarrassing situations with this woman anyway? "Lenne, if you have to know, I don't have anything under these sheets but my skin. Normally, I don't mind letting you have everything I could offer, but I have to ask you nicely, just this time, can you please let me have the blanket?"

Lenne stared at him with a pout, then finally let go of her end of the blanket.

When she did, Shuyin snatched it out of arm's reach just in case she changed her mind. After a while, when Lenne just sat there, her face becoming redder by the minute, he cleared his throat. "So tell me. What's going on? Why are you here and why on earth am I undressed?" At this, he narrowed his eyes at her. "This isn't another prank of yours, is it?" He could vaguely remember Lenne had loved to put him on the spot by making him uncomfortable when it came to that.

But she shook her head. For some weird reason, he was expecting for her to protest, but right then, she just... silently explained. "It's not a prank, Shuyin. You probably don't remember it, but you collapsed the moment we got to the Agency front. I tried to rent out two rooms, but since the Al Bhed behind the counter was as knowledgeable of English as I was with their language - " she scratched her head sheepishly. "- I ended up getting a room for two instead. I tried to reason with him, but there weren't any more rooms left. I even tried not sleeping but somewhere around midnight, you started to get a chill. I didn't know what to do, so I did the thing Choras taught me to do when a person has a fever," she said quietly, shyly. "So I lay down next to you."

Shuyin blinked, then realized that had it not been for her, he didn't know what would have happened to him. Shyly gathering the blanket near him, he scratched his head. "Thank you."

Lenne eyed him a moment, then looked away. "You would have done the same thing for me, right?"

Shuyin shook his head seriously. "Heck no. I'd never so much as touch you with a ten foot pole if I knew you were naked. I don't want to be called a pervert," he said, clearly remembering the gorge incident not too long ago.

Lenne narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, you were looking up my skirt."

"I had no choice."

"Yeah, well you still saw up my skirt. What color are my undies?"

"I don't know," he lied.

"Shuyin!" With this, Lenne snatched back one end of the blanket and threatened to pull.

"I really don't know! All I remember was that it had a lot of lace..."

"You did see it!"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help but see! I had to catch you. You owe me your neck, you know."

Girls were weird. You tell them you don't know and they don't believe you, then when you tell them the truth, they threaten you!

Lenne let go of the blanket and got up from the bed. She tiptoed on the carpeted floor lightly. She really had the grace of a dancer. It was then did he realize Lenne had such small feet.

_What the heck am I thinking, looking at her feet?_ Not that feet were the sexiest part of the human body, but it was a funny feeling, seeing her without boots. She had such translucent skin...

"I'll be in the bathroom, so you make sure you're dressed up when I come out. Oh, and Shuyin?"

"Yeah?"

"My purse is in my bag. I only realized yesterday that I'm bad at budgeting. Can you keep it for me?"

"Sure. It's in you bag?"

"Yeah."

With that, she disappeared inside the bathroom.

Shuyin smiled. He remembered Lenne's escapade at speaking to an Al Bhed and couldn't help but laugh. How could she have mistaken getting a room for two, instead of two rooms?

As Lenne disappeared into the bathroom, he gathered his clothes and started to get dressed in a hurry.

The last thing he wanted was to have her walk in on him without pants.

When he got dressed, he got the purse full of gil from Lenne's bag and conveniently slipped it inside his belt bag.

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Lenne and Shuyin walked side by side into the lobby of the Agency and found Xarinne sitting on the bench which was the only thing big enough for him to sit on. Lenne noticed that the group of people that crowded the lobby yesterday was gone.

It was awfully quiet, and except for one man in blue breeches and a black, heavy looking coat who looked like he was in his early twenties, the lobby was empty. Even that round man, Ran, was not there behind his counter.

Lenne let her eyes watch the man in breeches and nibbled her lower lip. He had the weirdest hair. It was light blue, neatly cut behind but long bangs covering half of his face, and so Lenne couldn't see what he looked like.

Not that she cared. She wouldn't want to see him anytime soon anyway.

When Xarinne saw them approach, he stood up with a broad smile on his face. "Good morning, Shuyin. Good morning, Lenne. Xarinne is glad Shuyin is well."

Lenne smiled at him. For someone who was that big, he sure acted like a little child. "How was your sleep?" she asked the Ronso.

Xarinne frowned. "Even under stars, it is still too warm. Where are we off to next?"

Shuyin secured his broadsword on his hip. "That's kind of the hard part. We're going into Macalania Woods. There are chances that we might end up encountering people from Bevelle. That's not good."

Lenne remembered the conversation again, of what the Maester of Bevelle wanted. She turned to Shuyin and wanted to tell this to him, but decided that maybe it wasn't the right time. Maybe she will ask this of him when they get past Bevelle already. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I think I know a way. We can't possibly skip too far away from the trail. There's a temple in Macalania. If we skip it, you'll miss your second Aeon."

Lenne blinked in amazement. "Really? There's a Fayth in Macalania Woods?"

Shuyin stared at her in disbelief, then shook his head. "Lenne, let me just ask you this. You were so confident on going through your pilgrimage alone, and you don't even know where the Fayth are? What exactly were you planning had I not come along?"

Lenne grinned sheepishly, sticking out her tongue playfully. "Give this little girl a break, you."

Just then, the weird man burst out laughing and spoke loudly in the Al Bhed language. "_Fryd y brelg. Dryd'c y _Summoner"

"Huh?" Lenne murmured as she curiously turned to the man.

The next thing that happened caught her off-guard. One moment, Shuyin was beside her, the next, he was running to the man, and in a flash, he had him by the collar, raising the man by his heavy shirt about a foot off the floor.

"Shuyin? What are you doing???" Lenne cried out, fear gripping her by the neck.

The next that came out of Shuyin's mouth made her gape in amazement.

"_Ybumkewa do_ Lenne!" Shuyin muttered menacingly at the man, his eyes – Oh, Yevon those eyes – had the violently wild glint in them.

_Shuyin knows Al Bhed?_

The man, shocked at first, probably because he wasn't expecting anyone in the room to understand him, gritted his teeth and stared back at Shuyin boldly, although she didn't know how that man did it. Shuyin's eyes looked so scary that way. "_Hu. Fro cruit E?_"

Shuyin gave the man a shake and spoke even louder. "_Palyice eu Oui tuh'd, E'mm phayg ouin halg._"

The man narrowed his eyes at the very angry Shuyin. "Tch! _Veha. E's cunno..._"

Shuyin shook him again. "_Muug yd ran yht cyo ed eh _English!"

Tha man looked at her. Lenne gasped. He had the sharpest green eyes she had ever seen, and even at that distance, she could see the rings in his irises. "I'm sorry," he said, addressing her.

_Huh?_

Lenne felt herself finally breathe as Shuyin let the man drop down on the ground like a sack of potatoes. The man crumpled in a heap, hand on neck.

_What did that man say anyway? Why did he apologize?_

Lenne didn't care. She ran to Shuyin and gripped his arm tightly. "What is wrong with you? Why did you attack him?"

Shuyin was still looking dangerously at the man, who in turn was staring back at him with equal hatred. "He said something he shouldn't."

Lenne nervously looked at him. "What?"

"He said something he shouldn't have said about you." He turned his eyes to him, and Lenne felt relief flood her heart when she saw his eyes were back to normal, gentle, as if he were looking down at a child. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing."

Lenne didn't believe it. She gazed down at the man worriedly. Boy, he was scary when he gets mad...

_What did that man say about me...?_

ï© -==- ï© -==- ï© -==- ï©

_**Hello! Finally I get to update! You might think nothing much happened in this chapter, but that guy that Shuyin strangled is someone who will play an important role in Lenne's pilgrimage... I was thinking of a Rikku counterpart. Oh, well.**_

_**Oh, and to those who don't have an Al Bhed translator, the conversation went like this.**_

_**????: What a prick. That's a Summoner?**_

_**Shuyin: Apologize to Lenne!**_

_**????: No. Why should I?**_

_**Shuyin: Because if you don't, I'll beak your neck.**_

_**????: Tch! Fine. I'm sorry.**_

_**Shuyin: Look at her and say it in English!**_


	16. Longer and Sweeter

**_Author's Note: Thanks for everyone who read and reviewed my work! I really appreciate it. Well, I hope you like this chapter... Hehehehe! I kind of wanted it to look a little more like "The Lake Scene" from FFX._**

_**Please R and R!**_

The Macalania Woods separated the Calm Lands from Bevelle and the Thunder Plains. It was a stretch of tall trees that reached high into the sky, so thick were their branches and trunks that the floor of the forest clearing, as far as those people who have passed through it could remember, had never seen the light of day.

Lenne followed Shuyin's wake silently as they entered the woods. She had never been to these parts of Spira before, but had she ever did, she wouldn't hesitate going back there again. It was a beautiful place to be in! The trees looked like they were made of Crystal, or better yet, ice. And although no sunlight shined from above, there was an eerie insubstantial glow coming from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.

Xarinne guarded their back, as always, and unbelievably, he was humming this simple tune that sounded a little strange to her ears. It was probably a Ronso tune or something. She found it funny, big Xarinne humming a melody. She giggled and tried to walk next to him. "Hey Xarinne. How old are you anyway?"

Xarinne looked down at her in puzzlement, surprised by the unexpected question. "How old is Xarinne? Why does Lenne ask?"

"I just kind of wanted to know."

"If Lenne must know, Xarinne is fifty-three years old in human years."

Lenne's eyes widened. "Fifty-three!? But you act like you're only about eighteen."

Shuyin answered her question. "In Ronso years, he's practically only nineteen or twenty years old. We kind age faster than they do."

"Humans live such short lives... No wonder humans always hurry," Xarinne said.

"Fifty-three, huh? That's amazing," Lenne remarked, turning to Shuyin, watching him lead the way into the haze of the eerie light of Macalania until they reached a crossroad.

He paused a bit and looked over his shoulder. "We can't go any further. If we go straight ahead, we'll probably encounter soldiers from Bevelle."

"So it's either right or left then?" Lenne eyed the Blitzball player, tilting her head to the side. "Where to?"

Xarinne began to move to the left path "If Xarinne is right, Shuyin is planning to cross the Macalania lake."

Shuyin nodded. "We'll have to avoid encounters as much as possible. And judging from what's happening now, between Zanarkand and Bevelle, I'm not sure we're going to be welcomed with open arms."

Once again, the remark Shuyin said made her wonder on how he was so knowledgeable on these kinds of things. It seemed like this Blitzball player had more surprises up his sleeve than he seems to project.

They did not waste their time in turning to the left road which ended up in a wide, placid body of water. It too, along with everything in the forest, radiated a bluish white light. Pyreflies hovered over its surface in a ghost-like manner, making the water seem like it was moving. In the middle of it stood a very old-looking tree, its branches and leaves bowing down as if to touch the lake to make sure it was real.

She saw in the corner of her eye Xarinne's wide form lumbering around the bank of the lake and was soon enough swallowed by the thick trees over at the other side. Her thoughts, however wouldn't let her eyes leave the lake.

Oohing and aahing at what she saw, she slowly made her way to the edge of the lake. It was beautiful. Kneeling down and peering into the deep water's unseen bottom, her ever so active imagination started to make her think of couples stealing kisses under its depths. She sighed. This was, by far, the most romantic place she hade ever been to.

Her reverie was interrupted by Shuyin's unromantic tap on the shoulder. "Are you listening?" he asked.

Lenne looked up at him and found he was wearing his _pay-attention-to-me-because-it's-important _look. "Oh, I'm sorry. You were saying?"

"I was asking if you could swim."

"Me? No. I never really did learn how to. Do we have to swim across?"

"No. I was just asking, because you are standing too close to the water. That lake is pretty deep. We're going around it. Come on. Let's not waste any time. This place is the last you'd want to be in right now." Straightening, he held out his hand. "Hold on to me. These parts of the woods are slippery. We don't want you ending up in the water, considering you don't know how to swim."

Lenne looked at his hand for a whole minute before taking it. When they touched, she felt a chill run down her spine. This was the first time she had felt this. He had held her hand – more than her hand in fact - many times before but then why does she feel different now?

_Who are you, Shuyin? You had managed to live a low-profile life, however popular your talents make you. You speak a language not everyone can. You can handle a sword and any sort of fiend, and you know your way throughout Spira. Who are you really? What force of nature had brought you to come into my life when I needed someone to be there? _

She hadn't realized she was staring at his face until she felt her foot slip and had it not been for Shuyin who had a mean grip on her hand, she would have seen herself wallowing in that water.

Lenne laughed nervously. "That was a close one."

Shuyin was not pleased. "Lenne, I want you to promise me something,"he said seriously, helping her regain her balance.

Lenne braced herself for the sermon.

But instead, no sermon came. "Lenne, I want you to promise me that you will take care of yourself. Promise me that you will be better, that you will never let your guard down."

Startled at his words, she started to worry. These were the words someone would say when they were leaving... Her parents, they said pretty much the same thing before they died... So she socked his arm painfully and laughed. "What are you talking about, Shuyin? You sound too serious all of a sudden. What's wrong?"

Shuyin tried to avoid her gaze but since it was too slippery to look anywhere but forward, Lenne could still see his eyes. They looked... troubled. "I want you to be aware of the danger around you. Because I can't promise you that I'll always be there to protect you, even if I wanted to."

At that, Lenne felt weak. She stopped walking. Shuyin also stopped and looked back at her questioningly. "What's wrong?"

It was the most unexplainable thing she felt at that moment. But right then, she felt suddenly mad. "What are you trying to say?"

Shuyin shrugged. "Nothing. That you should be careful. That's all."

Lenne let go of his hand, almost slipping in the process. "Why are you telling me these things all of a sudden?" She gasped as she almost slipped, and Shuyin tried to reach for her but she swatted his hand away. "Why are you telling me that you might not be there, that you can't promise that you'll b e there for me?"

Her reaction, she could tell, confused Shuyin. "Lenne? Why are you suddenly mad at me?"

_Why am I?_

The Songstress backed away, and again almost slipping. This time, Shuyin did not try to help her, which annoyed Lenne. Well, she knew that she wouldn't have accepted his help, but still it irritated her that he didn't even bother. It must be one of those days. "What are you trying to say?"

Shuyin looked around helplessly. Lenne knew she was being really difficult, but she will not have people saying that really overly scary speech of "taking care of oneself because they might not be there all the time." She's had enough of it already!!!

Lenne blinked her eyes in rapid succession and spat out the words from her mouth as if they were poison. "So, you're not going to be there for me? Well, that's okay. I mean, I wasn't the one who dragged your butt out here in the first place. You have yourself to blame!"

Shuyin sighed. "Lenne don't be such a spoiled - "

"A spoiled what, Shuyin? A _brat_? A spoiled, insensitive _brat_?"

With this, Shuyin took a step towards her. When he did, Lenne backed off a step. This made the Blitzball player knit his brows. "Lenne, I don't even know why you're suddenly mad. All I was saying was - "

At this, Lenne realized she was having hard time breathing. She didn't even realize the tears leaking down her face. "I know what are you trying to say, Shuyin. It's not like I haven 't heard it before. First it was my dad, and then my mom, and then you. Sure. I've heard that speech loads of times."

"Lenne, can't you at least hear me out?"

"What for?"

"**_Because you need to know!"_**

Lenne gasped at his tone. His loud voice echoed throughout the lake and through the trees. She swallowed and finally realized she was crying.

Shuyin took advantage of the silence and gingerly took a step towards her. Lenne backed away again, her boots touching the edge of the water. He reached out his gloved hands to her. "Lenne, I've had a dream. That night after Fayth Scar, I had a dream. About someone..."

_Oh, great! Now he's going to bring it up. That woman in his dreams. _To her, she sounded like the jealous girlfriend she knew she was not and so much denied to herself.

When she didn't say anything, Shuyin continued on coming closer to her. Another step back for Lenne. The water reached her knees. "Lenne, I had a dream that I was in a cage in a dungeon. I don't know how I got there... But I knew I was captured. And I was calling out to someone."

_Yeah, I heard, _Lenne thought bitterly.

"I was crying out to someone, because I knew she was in danger. In that dream, I was scared."

Another step forward for Shuyin. Another step back for Lenne. The water reached her hips.

"I was scared because I knew that person I was calling out to was going to die. And so I was angry because I couldn't help her. In the dream, I knew that if anything happened to her, my heart will die."

Forward another step for Shuyin. Back another step for Lenne. The water was over her waist now. The water was freezing, but she didn't care. She was numb. Why was he telling this to her?

"And that person, I knew, deep down inside... I knew she was... **_you_**."

Lenne gasped. This was the last thing she was expecting from him. _No. This cold rock could not have been dreaming about me... It could not be possible. _She felt Shuyin edge closer, slipping his arms around her submerged waist. This time she did not back away. There was nowhere else to go.

She felt Shuyin slowly bury his face in her hair. "I do not know how you will make this out, but I... feel like I need you. And it scares me to know that even if I would give anything to protect you, I will still not be strong enough to stay by your side. What if something happens to me? What if that dream came true? What if you were in danger and I wasn't there to save you? My heart will die, Lenne. It will die."

These words, everything that was coming out of Shuyin's mouth, they were the weirdest things she had ever heard him say. Even the Al Bhed language coming from him didn't seem as strange, compared to this. She was having serious doubts that he still had a fever. So unconsciously, she raised her hand to his forehead. But Shuyin caught it quickly. His grip was firm, yet gentle. Lenne caught him staring into her eyes and she felt terribly aware that they were so close together, there in the cold water.

"I don't know what I'm trying to say to you, Lenne. But I don't want anything to happen to you. That's all I wanted to say. I will not leave you, and for so long as you'd have me here near you, I will be. Unless I really can't. And that's why you have to be safe for me. Because if ever we get separated..."

Lenne cried harder. "We're getting separated...?" Suddenly, the thought made her feel terrible. Things right now were going too fast. This was not like Shuyin... Yet... she didn't care...

"_If _we get separated, Lenne, I want you to save your tears, coz I'll be back," Shuyin whispered. "If ever we part, it's because I will be fighting my battles far from you, so you will be safe. If we get separated, I will be back. But until then, you will be safe for me..."

Lenne swallowed back her tears. This was a promise, wasn't it? A promise to be together, right? This was different. It was not a farewell speech, like her parents'. It was a promise...

Lenne wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. Why do the tears keep on coming? "I will be safe, Shuyin. If we get separated, I will be safe for you."

Shuyin looked down at her with those eyes. They were the saddest eyes in the world, but she didn't care. She felt her own eyes close as Shuyin leaned down to her, closer and closer and closer still, until that beautiful mouth of his touched her lips ever so gently. It was a ghost of a kiss that lingered for a while, until he kissed her again, this time longer, sweeter. And she kissed him back. Just as long. Just as sweet.

She had never kissed anyone in her life before.

Now she knew why.

_I was waiting for this perfect moment._

**_Inspiration form Yunie-star-Tidus-cutie!_**

**_Sorry if this chap is a little too short, but I added extra fluff. So I hope you like it anyway. To tell you honestly, I wasn't supposed to get them this close this early, but the setting was too beautiful, and I thought that it was the perfect place to make their relationship grow now. Does it seem a little abrupt? _**

_**I can still change it along the way, so I'm asking for your votes if you'd like them to start developing their feelings for each other, or do you want to extend their uncomfortable state? Either way is fine, but I really need your votes on which would be better.**_

_**R and R pls!!!**_

_**Oh, and did you notice I inserted words from Lenne's song??? Heeheeheeheehee!**_


	17. A Different Kind of Dance

_**Author's note: Hello! It's been a while since I updated! I've been sort of busy with my school work and I was also kind of challenged with this other fic I'm working on. Another reason why I wasn't able to update was because I had to play FFX all over again to get a few historical backgrounds on the places, like the fact that there used to be a big city a thousand years ago standing where Mi'ihen highroad is, and that Sin destroyed that. Also, there used to be a Machina city built on brifges over the Moonflow Still thinking about a possible name for those cities, since I suppose the name Mi'ihen wasn't given for that place till Yuna's time. I vaguely remember Maechen somehow explaining that in the story and I had just reached that part. I needed the background because Lenne and Shuyin will be passing through there too. And does any of you know when the lightning towers were built in the Thunder Planes? Teehee! I don't want them to get burned to a crisp when they pass through there…**_

_**Oh, well. R and R!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2!**_

 **_--  --  -- _**

Shuyin ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly as he sat in front of Macalania Temple, lost in his confusion, and oblivious of the temperature that had suddenly dropped the moment they neared the holy place. He had kept on asking himself on what had just happened back there in the lake. What in Spira had gotten over him then, kissing Lenne like that? It had come out of the blue, that urge. But at least he knew that he hadn't said anything stupid or whatever.

Come to think of it, what _had _he said to her then?

Groaning inwardly, he buried his face in his hands. This was the most terrible feeling ever… He couldn't remember how it even ended, what she did or what she said. More so, what she felt. He had entered into a trance, after that kiss, and found himself sitting on a rock in front of the Temple all alone. At first he thought it was another of Lenne's pranks, but after seeing himself in front of that temple that looked like it was made of ice, standing in the middle of a deep ravine, he decided the Summoner had probably gone inside with Xarinne, being her Guardian, to get her next Aeon.

No. This was not good. He could feel himself wanting to see her, to see how she would look at him after their kiss…

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he tried to remember the post-kiss episode.

Yeah, he had been the first one to pull away. Then Lenne had looked at him for the longest possible time, again with the gray eyes… And then she promised him again, that she will be safe. Then he had led her out of the water without saying anything and then made their way through the trees after the Ronso.

And they had walked in silence until they reached that place.

_Not much help, that memory… Now what?_

He had never really thought of him as being that forward to anyone. She had been crying, and he didn't know what to do, and then there was the sudden urge to plant his lips on her beautiful mouth. He blamed the place. It was too beautiful…

And now, he had irreversibly performed an act he did not know if he liked or not.

He was never really good when it came to intimacy, so basically he was lost. In all honesty, he knew he had been lost from the moment Lenne walked into his life that fateful night. He had come with her to this pilgrimage for no reason at all, with nothing to gain, simply because he had nothing to do. In Zanarkand, he had a superficial life. He would dodge balls and tackles and Shuyin-crazy women, then earn medals not because he was that good, but because he happened to be better than everyone else. Or at least this was what he thought. He needed to be compared to others in order to determine his worth, but he himself was never satisfied…

And until Lenne came, his life had no meaning. Now, he had a purpose. And however unofficial it was, he knew deep down, he existed for her. That was all.

Silent groaning and heavy footsteps coming from some where behind him interrupted his thoughts. Looking over his shoulder, he gasped and immediately was on his feet. "What happened?" he demanded as he ran to Xarinne. Lenne was in the Ronso's arms, unconscious.

Xarinne looked like he would faint. "Lenne came out like this. Lenne fell into Xarinne's arms and would not open her eyes. Shuyin! Xarinne has failed as a Guardian!" he bawled.

Shuyin peered into Lenne's face. "Hush now, Xarinne. She's just sleeping. She was like this with her first Aeon, too. So I think it's safe to say this is normal."

With this, the Ronso began to breathe in a more relaxed manner. "Xarinne is worried. But if Shuyin say it is normal, then Xarinne believes it to be so."

"Take it easy, big guy. Here. Do you want me to carry her for you?"

The Ronso was more than willing. He gingerly placed Lenne on his back and sighed with reief. "Lenne is so puny. Xarinne scared to hurt her."

Shuyin adjusted his broadsword do as to make sure Lenne was comfortable. "If it were up to me, I'd gladly wait until she wakes up, but right now, with us so close to Bevelle, I think it would be better to move on. Let's go."

And so they walked across the long path that led to the Thunder Plains. It was the only way they could cross to Guadosalam, the home of the proud Guado race, and then into the Moonflow. They walked for hours silently, fear gripping their hearts and hoping against hope that no soldiers were doing their rounds at the moment.

But luck was definitely not on their side.

Xarinne suddenly stopped walking, a low growl bubbling in his throat. "Xarinne smell company…"

Shuyin tensed. This was not the perfect time! He cursed under his breath as he heard heavy, uncountable footsteps coming from behind them. In a hurry, Shuyin scanned the path in front of them, then to the sleeping Summoner behind him. If they find them here, who knows what they'll do?

The fur on Xarinne's neck raised in anticipation as he waited for Shuyin's order to fight, but instead, Shuyin motioned to the trees. "Hide, Xarinne."

The Ronso was confused. "But - "

"No buts. Just do it."

And complying, they stealthily hid behind the nearest tree. Shuyin cradled the sleeping Lenne to his chest, trying as hard as he could not to breathe. Xarinne was a few feet away from him, crouched low and trying hard to be as small as possible. Shuyin peered out in between the branches and that was when he saw them. A dozen or so Bevelle guards, armed with their trademark bladed guns, marching down the path, laughing and cheering noisily.

Shuyin held his breath as they approached. They were talking quite loudly.

"… making a deal with the Al Bhed," he heard one say.

"Making machina that dangerous, those Al Bhed sure are creepy. I mean, how could they have done it? Putting all those negative emotions in a machine?" said the other one.

"Scary, I tell you. But if it's the only thing that'll crush those Zanarkand worms, I say Maester Lua should do it."

_What? _Shuyin felt his spine turn to ice at the mention of the city. _What are they planning? What are they talking about? Crushing…? Crushing what? With what? _

Shuyin tried to move forward to listen more. Bad idea.

**_SNAP!_**

His boots crunched on a dry twig, and in a heartbeat, the dozen or so soldiers had their guns pointed to where they were hiding.

_Shit! Why does this always happen to me?_

He felt Xarinne grip his pike, ready to fight. Shuyin glanced down at Lenne and cursed even more. They were in a predicament now…

He saw one guard approach their hiding place cautiously while the others kneeled into position, waiting for a signal to open fire.

_No. This is a lose-lose situation. If we fight, and even if we win, it would be more than enough commotion to have more soldiers running. And if we manage to escape, they'll be all over us even before we could finish this Pilgrimage._

Shuyin shook his head, feeling utterly helpless. The guard was coming closer and closer….

But suddenly, luck turned out to be on their side after all.

Shuyin's head shot up as someone from somewhere above them shouted.

"**_RUN!_**" the voice said, echoing through the silent forest. Suddenly, all the guards were pointing their guns to every direction at once. Shuyin didn't waste any time. Gathering Lenne in his arms, he bolted to a dead run through the trees, the only thought in his mind was who their life-saver was. He saw Xarinne overtake him, to make sure they were not going to end up in more trouble and Shuyin took the time to look over his shoulder. Suddenly, a familiar-looking man dropped down from the trees and gracefully landed on his feet. The man didn't waste any time. With a swift flick of his wrists, he unceremoniously chucked something round and bulky at the group of panicking soldiers.

Shuyin gasped. _Oh, no! It's a …_

The man began to run towards them. The man, Shuyin recognized, was the foul-tongued Al Bhed back in the agency! He screamed at them. **_"I thought I told you to ru - _**"

The man's voice was drowned as the world behind them exploded in a swirl of fire and heat, the impact hitting them like a tidal wave, sending the man flying. Shuyin held on to Lenne for dear life and shielded her from the scorching fires that licked the trees, toppling over from the loud blast.

 --  --  -- 

Shuyin shoved Lenne into Xarinne's arms and stalked to the Al Bhed who was still face-down on the ground. Angrily, he pulled the man up by the collar as he did to him before in the Agency. "What the heck have you been thinking, throwing a grenade like that with us so near it?!"

The man stared at him with those green eyes and smirked. "I just saved your life, and this is the thanks I get? You're really ungrateful, aren't you?"

Shuyin pulled him closer, so as to have him look him directly in the eye. "We are no more than a thousand meters away from Bevelle. That loud ruckus you've termed as 'saving us' may cost us **_all _**our lives! Right now I'm not surprised if we end up having them on our heels."

The man gave him a blank expression. "Well, if you really want to stay alive, I suggest you let me go and **_let's start getting out of here!_**" he shouted then shoved Shuyin back. "Get a life, man."

Shuyin had never felt this angry towards anybody in his whole life. Stalking back to Xarinne, he snatched back Lenne and started to move out. The Ronso stared at him for a moment before finally following. What annoyed Shuyin more was that the man started following them, too. And since he was determined to get out of there, he decided to ignore him. But it was starting to get really bothersome, so when he decided that it was safe enough to slow down a bit, he turned to the man and snapped at him. "_Fro tu oui vummuf ic?_"

The man shook his head in that cock way that drove Shuyin crazy. "_Zucd palyica E's fymguhk dra cysa bydr yc oui yna tuah'd sayh E's vummufuhk oui._"

Shuyin shook his head and was about to snap back at him when Lenne suddenly stirred. Shuyin peered down at her worriedly. "Lenne, are you okay?"

The Summoner looked at him with puffy gray eyes and groaned, leaning her head on his chest. "World… spinning… urgh… "

The man smirked, propping his fists on his waist and shaking his head. "Is she really a Summoner?"

Shuyin growled angrily as he turned his eyes to the Al Bhed. "Why don't you just leave her alone."

The Al Bhed raised his hands in front of him in surrender, nervously laughing. Shuyin wondered why he suddenly became that meek towards him. When he returned his gaze back to Lenne, he saw she, too, cringed at his stare. He tried to smile. He must have frightened her with his glare. "Are you okay, Lenne?"

She nodded her head. "I'm all right." She turned to the jerk. "You're that man… that man Shuyin tried to…" she paused then frowned. "You're that man Shuyin tried to strangle. Why are you here?"

_That's what I would like to know, too, _Shuyin thought to himself. His eyes quickly darted to the Al Bhed's hand, which suspiciously moved from his waist to his pocket. The blitzball player held his breath, not knowing whether he was going to pull out another grenade or something that was going to blow them up sky high. He only resumed breathing when he saw that it was just a brown purse.

Shuyin felt all the blood drain from his face. A familiar brown purse. _That's…_

Lenne's eyes widened in surprise. "Hey! That's my purse!" She turned to Shuyin. "Shuyin! I thought you had that. I asked you to keep that for me… Why does he have it?"

Shuyin shook his head in bewilderment. No one had ever succeeded in catching him off-guard before…. "I… don't know…"

The man tossed the purse into the air and Lenne, still cradled in the Blitzball player's arms, caught it. "My name is Parish. That boyfriend of yours was too angry that he didn't even realize I swiped your gil back there in the Agency in the Calm Lands. Ran is my father. He asked me to follow you because he said I should not add up to the image on how people see Al Bhed, so I returned it. So there." He smirked cockily. "What have you learned today, pretty boy?"

Never in his life had he ever met someone as arrogant as he was. If it had not been for Lenne in his arms, he would have hit the bastard in the mouth. He slowly set the Songstress down and made sure she had her balance before he let go.

The next thing Lenne did surprised him. She faced the guy who called himself Parish and slowly took a humble bow. "Thank you for returning my purse. Our journey is still quite long, and this is the only money that we have."

What even surprised Shuyin next was that Parish actually looked embarrassed at such a polite gesture. His face reddened and he shuffled his feet on the dirt. "I didn't do nothing."

Lenne shook her head. "Not anyone would bother returning something they stole, or even admit that they did it. Please. It's dangerous to go back to where we came. Perhaps you'd like to join our party until we reach a safe place where we can go our separate ways?"

It was then did he realize that this insensitive Al Bhed was like him after all, for the mere reason that he had somehow found himself in Lenne's whirlpool, being sucked in helplessly. He did not know where he had actually gotten that idea, but somehow, he knew that that was what was happening… Parish… was one of them, whatever that meant… he just… _felt_ it.

But he sure as hell did not like it.

 **_--  --  -- _**

All throughout their journey through Macalania Woods, none of them talked. Actually, Shuyin had found the silence quite welcoming. Their little party of four could attract more attention than necessary. Not that there were any people to attract attention from. Their slow walk was actually smooth, and had it not been for Parish who occasionally hummed a very unfamiliar tune, the trip would have been in an unbreakable silence. Even Lenne did not speak. Which in reality made Shuyin nervous. He hated it when he did not know what she was thinking. Not once did she mention anything about their little shared kiss in the lake, which made him wonder if it ever happened at all, thus making him a little edgy. But since he respected her privacy, he decided not to press on the issue too much. It should not be such a big deal. A kiss was just a kiss after all.

But then, why in Spira did he feel like it had to have been more…?

In the corner of his eye, he watched Lenne, her long, unbelievably beautiful hair swinging with every step. It was awfully weird. Just looking at her made him swallow hard.

What a mush he had become. This was not him. He was Shuyin! He didn't give a damn about anything!

Until now… 

When they finally rounded the bend that led to the narrow path separating Macalania to the Thunder Planes, he was suddenly yanked back to reality when he heard the very disturbing sound of someone crying.

Xarinne had heard it first, his ears twitching cautiously as he stopped in his tracks. Parish, too, was suddenly wary, his hands hovering over the hunting knife tucked in his belt.

Shuyin was suddenly confused. The crying came somewhere ahead in the path. It was definitely a male voice weeping. Feeling quite disturbed, he was about to tell the group to make a detour through the trees, but Lenne had immediately rushed towards the direction of the voice, her boots crunching noisily down the path. She did not wait for them, nor did she listen to Shuyin's protests. She immediately disappeared through the undergrowth, Xarinne not far behind her. Shuyin, sighing in frustration, followed them, and Parish hurrying after him, all wound up and ready to spring into action.

Shuyin did not feel like there was any trouble waiting for them. But it was better to be safe than sorry, and instinctively, his hands hovered near his broadsword. But when he saw the sight that awaited them from the curb, his hand immediately dropped to his sides as he felt his knees betrayed him, causing him to stagger as he fell in beside Lenne who had her hands pressed to her mouth…

There, on a bloodstained clearing, was a hulking man with long, fiery red hair. He was no taller than Shuyin himself, but he was broad, a bloodstained axe that the blitzball player could have easily assumed as the man's weapon was lying forgotten a few feet from him.

And there, in his arms, was a woman, also with red hair. Shuyin squinted and gasped. _No. The woman doesn't have red hair. She has blond hair… soaked in blood…_

He had never really thought of himself as squeamish, but right then, he felt his stomach lurch violently and he held his breakfast in. The dead woman had a ragged slash across her throat, and bullet holes dotted her body. The man, too, was obviously wounded, but he paid no heed to his injuries. The woman was dead. To Shuyin, he knew that the man wanted to die, too.

Lenne, however, did not wait a second longer. Hurrying to the man, she kneeled by the couple and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I am the Summoner Lenne, from the city of Zanarkand. Please, let me lend my assistance and perform the Sending for her."

Shuyin felt his limbs go numb as he saw the man raise his face to look at Lenne. He could not read the emotions going on in those pale eyes. All he could decipher was pain… nothing more. The man nodded anyway, but instead of letting the body go and stepping aside, he held on to it much tighter, as if wanting to be sent himself.

Shuyin knew, though that this was not possible. But although he has known of Summoners dancing to send spirits to the Farplane, he had never actually seen one.

What he did not know was that after seeing one, he would wish he had never witnessed it in the first place.

Although he had seen Lenne dance before, this time, it was a different kind of dance...

_Very different…_

He really could not explain it. When Lenne slowly raised her hands on front of her face to begin the ritual, it was as if everything went silent, the wind, the trees, everything. And the temperature suddenly dropped even more...

And then it began.

Shuyin felt like he was watching the wind as the Summoner swayed in a music only she could hear. Her arms, and legs, gracefully moving in a complex weave of steps that differed from her other dances. This… this was a sad dance…

And Shuyin felt his hair stand on end as slowly, pyreflies suddenly emerged from the dead, unmoving body of the woman in the weeping man's arms. He watched as the shining things twirled around Lenne as she dipped and swayed in rhythm. But all those, her grace, her talent, everything disappeared, when he saw silent tears fall from her closed eyes. And he started wondering if performing a sending hurt the Summoner. He hoped against hope that it did not…

His hands clenched into fists as he suddenly found himself wanting everything to be over.

_Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing. Stop dancing…_

And finally, she stopped, and the Pyreflies faded into nothingness.

Shuyin started to breathe again. He felt the temperature go back to how it was, and he felt a light pressure on his left shoulder. It was Xarinne, staring at him with worried cat-eyes. He shook his head and the Ronso let go.

Lenne was still as a rock, standing there with her hands pretty much how they were before she began. She did not look hurt, but she looked… exhausted… And by her feet, crouched the man, alone. The body of the woman gone…

Shuyin shuddered. He prayed that he will never have to see her do that again…

_Ever…_

 --  --  -- 

_**A/N: Nothing much happened here, but I've pretty much written down the outline of what is going to happen in the story. Sorry again for not updating soon, but I sort of base what I write on inspiration, you see… and not much inspiration hitting me for this story until I played FFX again. God! You won't believe how much I missed having more than three characters, as opposed to FFX-2! Hehehehehehe! Anyway, I'll try to update sooner. And well, there will be a lot of grammatical errors ant typos in this story, so I'm apologizing in advanced already. I'm still out looking for someone who's willing to proofread my work. ', Anyone interested?**_


	18. Taboo

_**Disclaimer: I do not own FFX-2.**_

The fog had crept up from the lake in the north, which proved to be quite an advantage for Lenne and her friends. What with the concealment of their fairly huge party consisting of a wounded man who challenged the height of a Ronso himself, a very annoying Al Bhed, a not so low-profile Ronso and a broodingly handsome man who spoke little but seemed to be projecting an aura that made him anything but unnoticeable, was anything but easy.

Lenne sighed as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand as she surveyed her handiwork on the man who wielded an axe for a weapon, now crouching on the moist ground of the Macalania Woods. The man had calmed down, actually, and he had stopped crying about an hour ago, but his eyes were glassy and lifeless as it stared back at her, once in a while murmuring "Ronnellie… " under his breath, which Lenne assumed to be the name of the woman who she had just sent. She shivered at the memory… It was such a gruesome sight.

Leaning forward slightly and touching the man's shoulder, she managed a weak smile. "Will you be all right?" she asked.

The man blinked a bit, making one lone tear fall from those sad, sad eyes… "Who are you…?" he asked her, but there still was no evidence of him noticing anything around him. "Where… am… I?"

Sighing once more, as if she had not been sighing more than enough already, she sat on her heels and hugged her knees to her chest. "I am the Summoner Lenne, from the city of Zanarkand. And you are?"

The man blinked again and once more, another tear fell. "Ronnellie… "

Lenne shook her head and was about to say something when suddenly, a voice came from behind her.

"You won't be able to talk to him that way, Lenne."

The former Songstress whirled around and got to her feet and saw Shuyin sitting stiffly on a dead stump, his broadsword lying across his lap. He was wiping the weapon with what looked like a dirty rag, his eyes unseen in the shadows playing at his hard, serious face.

Lenne did not realize he was back. About an hour ago, he had asked permission to scout around the area to maybe get some food for them all, and asked Xarrine and Parish to stay and guard Lenne. Both men had been more than willing to agree. It seems like they also sensed that Shuyin wanted to be alone.

"Why not?" she asked him silently. The question made Shuyin snort. Very uncharacteristic of him to make such a sound.

"You just can't. Let me talk to him." With this, he swiftly got to his feet, using his broadsword to help him stand.

Lenne eyed the Blitzball Player curiously as he slipped the sword in its scabbard and made his way to the crouching man next to Lenne. She did not like the look of those eyes.

"Shu - Shuyin? What are you going to do?"

The man peered up at the Blitzball Player and Lenne watched as another tear once again fell. It made her heart ache at the sight of him so broken down like that. For the hundredth time that hour, she asked herself who could that woman possibly be. A sister? A friend?

_A lover?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Shuyin suddenly grabbing the man by the collar and shaking him violently.

Lenne shrieked in horror.

"Get your act together, man!" Shuyin said between gritted teeth. "There is no use crying over her death. If you don't pull it together, you, along with the rest of us, could be next." And with a final vigorous shake, he let him drop in a heap on the ground.

"Shuyin!" Lenne protested as she rushed immediately to the man. But as soon as her fingers touched his shoulders, he recoiled and curled up into a tight ball. The Summoner eyed Shuyin with a wide, questioning stare, mouthing a silent "What in Spira is wrong with you?"

But all she got in return was a cold, deadpanned expression.

"I couldn't save her," the man suddenly wailed, cowering even more. It looked weird, having to see such a big person try to be as small as possible. "I was her Guardian! My life offered before hers! My blood spilled before hers! May the Aeons take me away to the Farplane this moment! I have failed my Ronnellie!"

And at the revelation, Lenne froze. _She had been a Summoner… and this was her Guardian. Bevelle Guards killed her…_

The mere thought made her skin crawl. She looked around helplessly, shivering involuntarily as a strong gust of wind blew in from the North, bringing in more fog. To her left, she could see Xarinne's glowing green cat-like eyes look at her through the ever-thickening fog, and somewhere to her right, she could hear Parish humming that odd hymn. Both, she knew, were eyeing her warily, wondering what she could possibly be thinking after discovering a Summoner has been slain here, for the mere reason of her craft.

It was only Shuyin who did not dare glance at her. As if he already knew that she was scared half to death about this fact. Instead, his ice blue eyes were intent on the man. And the next thing that came out of his mouth made Lenne feel weak.

"You were in love with her, weren't you? You were in love with your Summoner," Shuyin blurted out suddenly, his voice full of spite.

And with this, the man broke down completely.

"My Ronnnellie! My beloved Ronellie… I have failed you… "

Lenne slowly felt her knees buckle, and if it weren't for Xarinne, who hurried to her side the moment he saw her waver, she would have fallen flat on her face on the ground.

_He was in love... A Guardian in love with a Summoner... _

She felt all the energy in her limbs drain out of her body, and she held on Xarinne tightly. Shuyin briefly cast his eyes to her, for an instant the coldness vanished, but returned the moment he turned away.

"We leave at once," Shuyin declared quietly, slowly slipping out his sword from its scabbard immediately. "I'm scouting ahead to the Thunder Plains. Hopefully, it's a safe journey for us through there. Parish."

The Al Bhed, startled at having been addressed civilly by the Blitzball player, stood in full attention as if waiting for what he had to say.

"The Al Bhed Agency in the middle of the plains, can we rest there?"

Parish nodded, his unnaturally colored hair falling into his ringed eyes. "My father owns the agency. We will be safe there."

Shuyin nodded. "Good." He narrowed his eyes at him. "I have a lot of things I have to ask you there. And you'd better have answers." With that, he slashed his broadsword in front of him, making the fog swirl and dance around him. He stalked towards the direction of the Thunder Plains without another word.

Lenne took a deep breath again, this time counting up to ten before finally letting it out. She steadied herself on Xarinne, then turned to the man. They had to get out there as soon as possible. Bevelle... they killed Summoners for the mere sport of it... They had to get out of there immediately...

"Come with us," she said to the cowering man. She turned to the Ronso. "Xarinne, help him up. I can walk on my own. We will take him with us. It isn't safe here... Shuyin is right. We need to go."

That in itself got the Ronso and the Al Bhed going. With Xarinne helping the man walk and Parish loping ahead to check for any danger, Lenne was starting to feel quite lost in her thoughts… Things were happening in Bevelle. Great things that she did not know about. Her memory of the people she had seen in the Al Bhed Agency in the Calm Lands swam around her head and she asked herself what was really brewing in the blasted Maester of Bevelle.

_**-- 0 -- 0 -- 0 --**_

The Thunder Planes was a broad expanse of dead land that promised little or no support of life. There were a few people who opted living there, building tall, towering buildings made of rock and cement, but that was because their families have been living there over the last few decades. However, Shuyin was not sure if the inhabitants of the Thunder Plains would last any longer. The storm that had been gathering strength and with some mysterious force preventing it from dispersing was, if anything, far worse that it had been for the last five years or so. Lighting storms had been reported to have destroyed several stone houses in the center of the Plains, no one has died – at least not yet – but Shuyin believed that the people should not even wait for severe casualties before leaving the place.

Standing on the edge of the dark and dreary place, his eyes and ears keen on any lighting bolts that might strike them dead if they were careless enough, he found his mind drifting back to Lenne who he had left in the clearing back in Macalania woods. She was such a careless, hopelessly naïve girl.

He looked over his shoulder when Parish emerged from behind him. The Al Bhed looked at him with his ringed eyes and looked like he was about so say something when a lighting bolt zigzagged across the dark skies looming over them, followed by loud, deafening thunder that drowned whatever words Parish had to say.

Shuyin turned away from him and removed his scabbard from his belt, wondering if he would ever get to the agency without getting struck down by lightning.

"I hate this place. The storm gets worse and worse every passing year," Parish said as he walked over to him.

Shuyin glanced over to him again and was surprised when the Al Bhed handed him something that looked like wool he had produced from his pouch bag. "_Fnyb drec ynuiht ouin cfunt. Drec ec fryd fa tu frah fa lnucc dra _Thunder Plains_. Ed rambc y meddma, pid tuh'd pa lynamacc."_

Shuyin scowled at him, but took the cloth from him with silent fury, hastily wrapping it around, sheathing the scabbard and hilt of his broadsword completely. However he thought it nice of Parish to think of his welfare, he still did not like the guy. _"Oui _Al Bhed _fymg ynuiht eh dra Plains mega ed'c hudrehk. Tuh'd oui ajan kad cdnilg po mekrdehk?" _

_"Fedr ymm dra _machina _fa ica, ed sygac sa fuhtan ruf fa tu ed."_

Shuyin scowled even more. He looked over his shoulder when she heard Lenne emerge from the undergrowth. It pained him, the expression on her face, which was a cross between frustration, confusion, fatigue and fear. She was followed shortly by Xarinne who was supporting the man they had come across to in the woods. He was such a huge fellow, broad shoulders, bulky arms. It made Shuyin snort at his pathetic behavior, crying and whining…

_But then, can you blame him?_

He lost a loved one in the hands of Bevelle. He had a right to cry.

_But what good will they do to him? Crying won't bring her back… It's his fault that he fell in love with his Summoner._

Something in the pit of his stomach churned violently as his eyes swerved back to Lenne, who was now approaching him, her knees wobbling a bit as she made her way to stand next to him. Her grey eyes looked out into the distance where lightning ripped the sky once more. Thunder rumbled faintly after it.

Shuyin blinked as he eyed her serious face. It really did not suit her, not smiling like that. He felt his hand reach up as if to caress her face, when suddenly she looked over at him and nodded. His hand froze in the air, and he felt it fall to his side.

"Let's go," She said in a voice he did not recognize.

He couldn't think of anything else to do but follow. Taking small hesitant steps after her wake, watching her hair swishing behind her gently, he frowned to nothing in particular.

The only thing that distracted him was when Parish moved closer to him and whispered in English, "A Guardian can't fall in love with a Summoner, because the relationship makes duty too complicated. But then again, you're not a Guardian, are you?"

With that, the Al Bhed walked away, humming to himself that strange tune. In the distance, thunder sounded off, and Shuyin found himself lost in his own sea of thoughts.


End file.
